Having covered almost every musical format since 2016 with singles and EPs, remixes, features and most recently »WHAT WE DREW 우리가 그려왔던« as a mix tape, Yaeji finally ventures forth with an album with »With A Hammer«. Similar to her adopted home of New York, the singing producer not only unites different people (K Wata, Nourished by Time, Loraine James or Enayet), but also combines the most diverse of influences in her very own way. These can also be heard geographically in her music – Yaeji frequently sings bilingually and has her origins in Tokyo, Seoul and Atlanta – but above all in her genre references. Breakbeats rub shoulders with pop melodies, trip-hop with Korean indie or 90s R’n’B with ambient and techno. To achieve this, she sometimes unpacks the sledgehammer, which she casually carries across her shoulders on the cover like a seasoned construction worker.
However, this applies exclusively to the force and fury of her musical expression, and not to the idea that something that doesn’t belong together is forcibly knocked together. Yaeji skilfully edits her voice with all sorts of effects, quickly forming a choir or alienating her vocals so much that they could also be synths. With the equally entertaining and ambitious »With A Hammer«, Yaeji proves that she is also adept at the long haul.
