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| Parc Jae-jung, debuted in 2013, releases his second mini-album "Lyrics," Monday. / Courtesy of Mystic Entertainment |
By Jung Hae-myoung
Compared to other winners of music audition shows, Parc Jae-jung remained relatively unseen for a long time after he won "Superstar K" in 2013.
Instead of walking straight into fame, Parc consistently released his songs as singles and took part in compilation projects such as soap opera soundtracks.
On Monday, he released his second mini-album "Lyrics" and held a media showcase.
"I did not feel like was not doing anything, because I kept working on and releasing singles," Parc said as to what took him so long.
"A growing number of fans showed that they want to listen to a longer version of my music, so I decided to release this album."
"Lyrics," his second mini-album, consists of seven songs in ballad genre with a hint of bossa nova. "I wanted to give an impression that this is a ballad album as soon as people hear the title," Parc said.
Rather than working with his head producer Yoon Jong-shin, Parc collaborated with different producers, composers and lyricists who have produced multiple hit songs. These include Jung Dong-hwan from indie ballad-duo Melo Mance, lyricist Kim Eana, Lee Kyu-ho and Kim Hyun-chul, who received attention recently as the godfather of Korean synth-pop.
"I used to get a lot of advice from Yoon when working on music, but for this project I had to ask the producers a lot of questions," Parc explained. Although Yoon did not participate in this project, he supported Parc to interact and expand his network with other artists.
The main song, "If I were born again," is composed by Jung from Melo Mance. "I listened to his songs a lot. I was always so attracted by their beautiful piano arrangements. They told me to come to their studio, and wrote me two songs," Parc said. "I wrote the lyrics as soon as I got back home."
For this album, he tried to showcase a richer sound with a dynamic vocal range. "I usually use minimal instruments and choose stable notes when I sing, but for this album I challenged myself and sang my low pitch lower and high pitch higher," Parc said.
Singing live at the press event, Parc slipped out of tune here and there but managed to reach the high notes without much effort. "I also had some vocal lessons since I had to push myself for the higher vocal range," he said.
The lyrics were in the hands of star lyric writer, Kim Eana, who has written multiple hit songs including Brown Eyed Girls' "Abada Cadabra," IU's "Good Day" and Lee Sun-hee's "Meet Him Among Them."
"I wanted to take the part where I sing 'what would you do if you were to born again'. I told her and she really took my opinion when writing the lyrics," he said with appreciation.
Another track "Audrey," produced by Kim Hyun-chul, takes a very different approach to ballads. "I have known Kim since when I was little. He suggested bossa nova would suit me well and wrote this song," Parc explained.
Compared to the six other tracks in popular Korean ballad style, "Audrey" refreshes the whole ambience of the album with exotic melody and quirky words that real "Audrey" seems to sing. The name refers to French actress Audrey Tautou who starred in films such as "Amelie" and "Mood Indigo."
Parc said he hopes his new album can be sung by many people as well as heard. "I hope this song can be a go-to song when people sing in karaoke," he said. "I think the power of the song is immense. I also rely on music time after time, and I hope more people can feel the same with my music."
Parc was the winner of Mnet's music audition program "Superstar K" in 2013. At that time he was the youngest winner of the competition. He joined Mystic Entertainment in 2015, where he worked on numerous singles and drama soundtracks. Working with head producer and singer-songwriter Yoon, Parc has been working on his vocals well-suited to ballad music.
