I’ve known of Piano Shoegazer because he follows the Korean Indie social accounts and that he worked primarily as a producer. I wasn’t aware that he had his songs. That is what makes Sisyphus Happy an interesting listen. Because many different music styles and ideas surround him, I wondered how that might affect his compositions.
“Wet Moon” has a classic ambient arrangement. It’s not classic in that it uses some standard compositions, but it sounds like a song you would have heard in the late 2000s. The mix of ambient tones and noise properly introduces the album and tells you – this is the type of album you’ll hear.
But Piano Shoegazer also ventures around this general universe without sticking to a single style. Sisyphus Happy is like a highlight of musical styles across multiple genres while also offering a lightly connected soundtrack. “Dreamsick” has a lighter and poppier electronic construction that is more welcoming than “Wet Moon.”
And even though I generally like a cohesive narrative across a full length, Piano Shoegazer uses the 10 tracks as doors into a different idea or audio space. The foundational piece of each song is consistent with different samples and ideas placed across each verse. The variety is cohesive with a clear path forward.
The one song that no one should miss is “Nowhere.” It’s a shoegaze track that defies the rest of the album. Sisyphus Happy might be a little front-loaded but it’s definitely an album that deserves a start-to-finish listen. Moving outside of his production work, this is an impressive first full length.
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Written by Chris P for Korean Indie.