Kim Bum-soo celebrates 25 years and hopes for 25 more with new album 'Journey'

Music & Performance

Published: 22 Feb. 2024, 08:00

Kim Bum-soo celebrates 25 years and hopes for 25 more with new album 'Journey'

Veteran singer Kim Bum-soo is releasing his ninth full-length album ″Journey″ on Thursday, 10 years after the release of his ninth full-length album ″HIM.″ [YOUNG ENTERTAINMENT]

Veteran singer Kim Bum-soo purposefully left behind his signature hard-hitting high notes with "Journey," representing Kim's shift to a second chapter of slower-paced music.

“My ultimate goal as a singer is to perform in front of audiences for 50 years; I’m already at the halfway point as I celebrate my 25th anniversary,” Kim said in an interview with the press, held ahead of the album's release at a cafe in Gangnam District, southern Seoul.

“Journey,” set to be released Thursday, is Kim’s ninth full-length album that comes 10 years after “HIM,” his eighth full-length album.

“As I walk past my halfway point, I just hope I don’t have to rush like I did in my first half,” Kim said. “Because it was pretty fierce, [even] though it may look like I had a relatively smooth career from the outside.

This is one of the reasons why Kim’s signature high notes are mostly missing from “Journey.”

“I’ve tried my best to omit those characteristics,” Kim said. “It is true that it’s physically getting tougher for me to sing like that, but, more importantly, I found it to be a hindrance when I'm trying to convey my emotions in the song.”

“But that doesn’t mean I’m giving up on my [signature] singing style; both styles are still mine.”

Veteran singer Kim Bum-soo is releasing his ninth full-length album ″Journey″ on Thursday, 10 years after the release of his ninth full-length album ″HIM.″ [YOUNG ENTERTAINMENT]

The album features 11 tracks including the title track “Journey” and its English version, composed and written by singer-songwriter Choi Yu-ree. Choi also produced a B-side track “Trace and Trail,” while the other B-side tracks “One” and “Dream” were produced by singer-songwriter Sunwoo Jung-a and Lim Heon-il, respectively.

“I’ve realized that the songs I’ve been listening to were completely different from the songs I’ve been singing up until now,” Kim said. “The songs in my playlist were minimalistic, lyrical and even poetic, which got me thinking that these were the songs I wanted to sing after all.”

That’s how the production for “Journey” began, according to Kim, as he personally contacted the artists that were in his playlist.

“[Choi and the others] gladly said yes to my offer, as if they had the songs prepared for me already […] and the songs felt like handmade shoes that fit me perfectly.”

“Journey” is a song that looks back on the journey of one's life, which Kim related with his music career.

“I think there are a lot of [uncontrollable] variables when going on a journey. […] I’ve had many failures and [unexpected outcomes like a journey]. I was able to think more about the mistakes and bad outcomes instead of the achievements I’ve accomplished as I read the lyrics,” Kim said.

“But the song doesn’t end there, as I’m proud of myself for enduring and making it through the journey despite all that.”

The song ends with the line “I should go on a journey [again],” indicating the singer's wish to go on another journey despite the hardships he had in the past.

While Kim is best known to the public for his hit song “Miss you” (2002) and through his appearances in the competition show “I Am a Singer” (2011-2012), Kim revealed that his early days — when his agency didn’t allow him to reveal his face on TV — were fairly rough.

Veteran singer Kim Bum-soo is releasing his ninth full-length album ″Journey″ on Thursday, 10 years after the release of his ninth full-length album ″HIM.″ [YOUNG ENTERTAINMENT]

The decadelong gap in Kim’s album release was also a result of the rapidly changing music industry.

“I’ve been hesitant to release a full-length album for a while,” he said. “I worked during a period where artists just had to release studio albums and produce physical copies every few years. [But] times have changed, and that got me wondering if it was even right to make an album like this.”

Kim said he even considered releasing a “Best of Kim Bum-soo” compilation album with a couple of new tracks or going for smaller releases for “efficiency,” but scrapped the idea in the end.

“I went back to the old style as I would rather just not release anything than release something that I felt was unsatisfactory,” Kim said.

Kim, though still relatively unknown, was the first Korean singer to land on Billboard’s Single Sales chart back in 2001 — decades before BTS or other K-pop artists made their appearances.

“I’m still proud of the record, but it doesn’t mean much,” Kim said. “We now have Korean artists on the top of Billboard’s Hot 100 [main] chart, and I was only on the news because I turned out to be the first Korean artist to land there. […] So I think it’s an incomplete record, and I still have a dream to reach higher.”

Kim however, strongly denied suspicions that the English version of “Journey” included in the album was a part of an effort to reignite his international activities.

“But who knows. I was able to see a clear limit [to what I can achieve] in the past, and now those walls are gone. You never know what kind of opportunities I'll have.”

Following the release of “Journey,” Kim will embark on his “Journey, The Original” tour in Korea and abroad, kicking off with a concert at the Sejong Grand Theater in Sejong Center in central Seoul in April.

Veteran singer Kim Bum-soo is releasing his ninth full-length album ″Journey″ on Thursday, 10 years after the release of his ninth full-length album ″HIM.″ [YOUNG ENTERTAINMENT]

BY CHO YONG-JUN [cho.yongjun1@joongang.co.kr]