This weekend, with many of our friends finally vaccinated and our oldest kiddo having received her first dose, my family invited some folks over to enjoy some wine, taste some whiskey, try out the new air fryer, and chatter on about different options for cooling our house in the hot summer and the proper voltage for electric car charging. It was seriously like old times – the littles played Barbies in the basement, politics were trotted out, and yes, I played two different kpop songs to try to explain why I loved them so.
But after the friends had left and the dishes were done, my family retired to the basement to enjoy a movie or two and to spend some quiet time together. I, of course, slept through a good chunk of the first movie and crept upstairs to bed before they started the second knowing that I would be the one to get up pre-dawn to let the puppy out and give the cats their treats before they clawed our eyeballs out. This is how our weekends often pan out. This is our family tradition.
One of my very favorite things about these early morning weekend hours, when the husband and kids are still asleep and the animals are ready for a nap after being let out and fed, is the time I have alone to scroll through music I passed on or didn’t have the opportunity to really prioritize during the busier weekdays prior. This is often when I check back in on artists I love but don’t stalk, artists I don’t love but occasionally appreciate their releases, and new artists I find on curated playlists geared toward my moods or tastes. This is when I find little gems I would have otherwise completely missed out on.
Sogumm is a Korean singer-songwriter who debuted independently in 2015. She’s the type of indie artist that artists love. She works her ass off doing interesting music that gets the attention of people writing more mainstream hits. She has all of the attention, but none of the perks of a successful music career. A couple of years ago, Sogumm participated in the AOMG show Sign Here and ultimately won a spot under Jay Park on the label. I’ll be honest, my relationship with her music runs very hot and extremely cold. She has given me goosebumps because of the depth of emotion she evokes and infuriated me with seemingly pretentious art for the sake of art production. I don’t get her as a human. Should we ever meeting, we would likely butt heads and be annoyed with each other.
But, she is someone I will always listen to when I stumble across a song – especially a collab. This week, as I was scrolling through a playlist on iTunes, I found a little gem by Sogumm from 2020 featuring 10cm. It’s a beautiful song about comforting someone having a hard time, about being their rock and their source of strength. It’s simple and gorgeous. There are no tricks and no pretense. It’s just lovely.
I get that making things interesting and different and trying new things is vital for both music in general and for the artist specifically, but these songs, these perfect little moments in time are what I keep coming back for. I’m a simple fan that needs easy to absorb music.
Encourage, Sogumm (ft. 10cm)
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