Female duo BOL4 mature in music, style

Sep 15, 2019
Female duo BOL4 mature in music, style
A female duo, BOL4, Woo Ji-yun, left, and An Ji-yeong, right, take pose at the showcase held at Ilji Art Hall, Seoull, Friday.



BOL4 (Bolbbalgan 4) has returned with a completely different style in music and fashion. BOL4 is a female duo with vocalist An Ji-yeong and guitarist Woo Ji-yun, who has enjoyed mainstream popularity as well as on the indie music scene.

"Two Five," their new mini album, shows a drastic change from a sweet girl image to sexy and rebellious, which was reflected in their choice of clothing, hair and the overall art direction of the music video.

"I dyed my hair mint from blonde. Our style also changed from 'prep girl' image to chic and mature career woman. In terms of music, we tried to be more honest with the lyrics and we took special care with the sound," An Ji-yeong said at a promotional showcase held at Ilji Art Hall in Seoul, Tuesday.

"I think this could be a fun album for those who wanted to hear new music from us."

Having said that, the lead track, "Workaholic," has been in first place on music streaming charts for eight consecutive days.

The mini album, which was released Friday, consists of the lead-off track "Workaholic," "25," "XX," "Taste," and "Night Off." The lead song is composed and produced by An, based on her own experience of making music relentlessly.

"We were nearly burnt out when we were working on this song. I usually work at home, and when I saw myself in the mirror, I saw myself all haggard and crumbly," An said. "I even thought of quitting this job. Then I thought I should write this feeling into a song, the song clearly takes a rebellious concept and wanting to get free from the heavy workload. An in the video throws all the paper in the air.

Although the album takes a different path from the usual, Woo, the guitarist, said the change was not awkward. "Actually this is close to my original self," she said. "There are no cute lyrics or dance movements compared to the last album. Before I had to pretend to be a bright and quirky girl, but now I am more comfortable with this chic and blunt style."

Compared to Woo, An said she had to drink beer before she shot the music video to perform among flashy people and a commensurate environment.

The new concept comes from a change in time as they turned 25 this year.

"I think 25 is an ambiguous number since it is not an age that is fresh, but not completely mature," An said. "Mostly, I had inspiration from my friends who are just graduating from college and searching for jobs. I wanted to tell them that it is okay to know only half of the world. That they don't have to know everything."

The reason for the change was also a natural consequence from their change in age and passing time. "As a vocalist, I had to try different genres such as rock and hip-hop, but I actually wanted to try these genres for a long time," she added. "I think it is more of a challenge than just a change of mind," An explained.

Some critics say all their music sounds similar.
"The music style is very similar because we write all the songs, and they inevitably sound alike" An said. "The challenge is not to escape sounding similar. Rather, our style just changed naturally as we got older. We write what we want to write. This time we just wanted something new and it came across as a drastic change to the fans and listeners."

"I think this could be a stepping stone for us to show that we are artists that are capable of various genres in music as time passes."

BOL4 also announced their first nationwide tour. They also made a pledge to hold a guerilla concert if they reach first place in the music charts.

Tags: #K-pop;
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