Blending retro-futuristic synths with an unmistakably earthbound perspective, Korean Boyfriend invites listeners to look beyond the familiar in “Your Depth,” a video that fits within the quirky, enigmatic world of his Not About Space release. While laser-gun sounds and futuristic textures might suggest a journey into the cosmos, Korean Boyfriend finds more than enough mystery, absurdity, and beauty right here on Earth.
For Korean Boyfriend, that world is Manhattan. It’s a place where space is always in short supply, yet laughter, friction, and human contradictions are never hard to find. This tension between the futuristic and the everyday gives his music a distinctive character, using otherworldly sonic elements to explore the strange realities of ordinary life. Rather than looking toward distant galaxies for the unknown, he finds it in the people, places, and conflicts unfolding around him.
Although Not About Space isn’t explicitly a concept album, its four songs share a thematic thread that gradually reveals itself. That thread culminates in “Number Four,” a track that examines the abstract language of corporate sectors and the carefully defined “spaces” they occupy. Its title also invokes the number four’s association with death in several East Asian cultures, adding another layer of meaning to a release that continually plays with expectations.
With “Your Depth,” Korean Boyfriend continues to blur the boundaries between the strange and the familiar, inviting listeners to reconsider what lies beneath the surface of the world they think they know. Sometimes, the most intriguing discoveries don’t require a trip through the galaxy. They’re waiting just below the surface.
Cho comments “”Recently on-air a college radio DJ at KDVS said Your Depth was ‘pretty cool, it’s like electro grunge.’ The energetic music is supposed to propel ahead in a conspicuous linear fashion with bright percussion, clear melodies and singing, interlude for dancing; even though the lyrics are depressing. They’re about being beset by merchants, schemers, liars everywhere at every scale at every turn.
The video is an 8mm film shot in an electro grunge style, grainy but poppy where Korean Boyfriend poses at different angles in portrait, unfazed by the angry words being lipped, like how the music drives forward bullshit notwithstanding.””
Vents MagaZine Music and Entertainment Magazine