The Underrated

Donawhale

L-R: Jung Da-young, Yoo Jin-young, Kim Min-joon, Yoon Sung-hoon

Who are they?

     Donawhale is an alternative rock band from South Korea.  They began as a quartet of guitarist Yoon Sung-hoon, bassist Jung Da-young, pianist and vocalist Yoo Jin-young, and drummer Kim Min-joon.  Despite being structured as a typical rock band with “two guitars, keyboards, bass, drums, [and a] girl singer”, Donawhale separates themselves from the masses with their capabilities of “writing layered, textured, beautiful alternative pop rock songs”.

    Four years after the creation of the band, Donawhale released their first self-titled album Donawhale.  It was an exceptional album with songs ranging from “pseudo-ballads to even-tempo pop rock”.  It solidified the band as an exception in the indie scene as they not only use strong acoustic sounds, but also accompanying instrumental samples.  

     In 2009 Donawhale’s drummer, Kim Min-joon , left the band for early retirement due to personal reasons.  The band continued on as a trio and in the same year they released their second album, Dive to Blue.  Unfortunately, after their second album the band has been on an indefinite hiatus that still lingers today.   Guitarist Yoon Sung Hoon has started a “solo project called auhm before recently starting Modsdive”.   However, there has been no other news of the other members on re- entering the music scene, which is quite unfortunate considering their musical talents.

The Music

     Doawhale’s music is often described as soft with a “repertoire [that] masterfully draws the viewer into this dream world full of haze and sounds that feel just right”.  Even though the music seems to “play in the background”, it has the ability to grab the listener’s attention when changes in the “melody are picked up”. With the addition of “Yoo Jin-young’s soft, husky voice”, Donawhale’s tunes leave the listener with a memorable experience.

     So the first song I'd like to introduce is Bye Bye Waltz.  This song is written in the classic 3/4 time signature, the typical beat for a waltz.  However, Donawhale manages to create a whole different atmosphere to the songs.  Unlike the sound of a typical rock band, the song focuses solely on acoustics.  The acoustic guitar keeps the rhythmic 3/4 time beat while a brass instrument comes into fill it out along with a piano.  The vocals further emphasize the lullaby-esque feeling of the song.

     This next song by Donawhale is off of their first album and it's called Echo, which is a very befitting name for it.  The song uses a repetitive pattern of tones.  This is further emphasized around the two and a half minute mark as the song focuses on the repeating melody of the guitar.  And if you listen close enough in the background another repeating tone is present and is a sort of "echo".  Despite the heavy repetition, the song stays interesting and it's hard to pull away.

So what do you think of Donawhale?

Sources

http://seoulbeats.com/2013/03/k-pop-indie-gem-donawhale/

http://www.koreanindie.com/2012/06/29/introduction-donawhale/

http://www.last.fm/music/Donawhale

http://www.thesirenssound.com/2010/03/24/donawhale/
http://indiefulrok.blogspot.ca/2009/08/mini-interview-with-donawhale.html
http://www.sundrypictures.com/2010/11/music-crush-donawhale.html