Album Review: Yaeji – With A Hammer

Unpredictable, Thoughtful and Imaginative

Yaeji’s latest release, With a Hammer, is an intriguing and highly imaginative album. It is full of unpredictable rhythms, dissonant harmonies and thought-provoking lyrics. With a title like With a Hammer, audiences may assume that the album is about revenge or being full of rage. Though the lyrics do suggest frustration and anger, the music itself sounds deceivingly bright and upbeat.

Though this is mainly an electronic album, there is also a range of different styles and instruments. For instance, the very beginning of the album opens with a flute playing a catchy melody. At first, the music sounds disconnected and fragmented, but once the beat kicks in it finally connects all the elements that have been introduced. Though the overall tone of the music sounds optimistic and bubbly, there is still an unsettling feeling to the music.

Yaeji’s singing is soft and airy, which gives the music an almost childlike sound. Her voice imbues the tracks with a deceiving sense of innocence. At times her vocals sound distant and broken, and cause the melodies to sound somewhat eerie. Another interesting aspect about the lyrics is that she sings half the lyrics in English and the other half in Korean. The way she transitions between the two languages is effortless.

Though the title makes it sound like this would be a rage-filled album, it sounds far from it. The hints of classical and jazz styles give the album a lighter feel, and take away from the messages of anger in the lyrics. Many of the elements clash together throughout each song, causing the music to sound slightly disjointed. During these particular moments when the elements clash, there is a clear sense of precision, which shows the amount of thoughtfulness that went into every aspect of this album. Fans will no doubt enjoy all the fascinating and exciting elements on this album, as well as get some new catchy songs stuck in their head.