Hihi Haha by LEENALCHI
The sound and rhythms of two basses, drums, and three pansori vocalists have become the hallmark of LEENALCHI’s unique dance music, retelling the traditional pansori story of “Sugungga” in their first album. This time, everything including the story was designed from scratch. In collaboration with playwright Kim Yeon-Jae, they created a new pansori narrative, and just like the pansori storytellers of the past, LEENALCHI tells this story through song.
LEENALCHI’s second album, composed of twelve tracks, tells the tale of a lost world harking back to primitive cultures and abandoned creation myths. The story begins once upon a time, with a conqueror king. In a world still filled with chimeras, the king sets out to build a realm only for humans. Duhmy and Zaru must retrieve the names of the chimeras captured by the king and general. The village prophet, an old seamstress, tells them, “To retrieve their names, you must save those who eat too much and those who eat too little, those who wish to become one and those who want to become many. And to meet the one who remembers everything, you must walk while forgetting everything.”
Duhmy and Zaru embark on a quest to defy war and violence. They encounter spirits trapped in the king's circus tent, the chimera ‘Maw-in-the-Whirl’ who devours everything yet is never sated, the “thirty-six honest humans” who sustain the good in the world, Pastwise who knows only the past and Cassandra who knows only the future, Mago the Crone whose body has been shattered to pieces, and a bull with four thousand eyes and ears that remembers all. Will Duhmy and Zaru be able to return before the last brick of the king's castle wall is set?
Time and space in the story do not proceed in a straight line. Like a whirlpool, they spin around. As such, where exactly is the ‘end’ of the world? Rather than seeking to explain reality, LEENALCHI’s story envisions one beyond it. It pictures the varied forms and voices of pansori that were not officially recorded but certainly existed, as well as the stories that have been passed down orally and have disappeared. It welcomes us into a magical showcase of ancient visions, forgotten myths, and lost dialects…
For their sophomore album project, LEENALCHI is releasing a single every month. Following their first single Lesser Gods and Chimeras, which included the tracks "Look At Me Look At Me" and "Watch Your Step", this next single, "Hihi Haha", is a boisterous track that creates the most exhilarating atmosphere in live performances. Director Lee Eun-sol’s fiercely imaginative music video invites you into LEENALCHI’s strange and fantastical world.
“Hihi Haha”
The king captures the exiles and hosts a circus. Talking animals, half-human half-beasts, chimeras, monsters, and all sorts of extraordinary beings are taken captive. The king’s circus is essentially a freak show, traveling across the kingdom to gather crowds and teach them the distinction between the normal and the abnormal, between what belongs in the kingdom and what does not. Duhmy and Zaru sneak in among the circus troupe to rescue their Nameless Village friends trapped in cages. In the circus show’s final act, just as Duhmy is about to perform a tightrope stunt, the tent collapses as the tension reaches its peak. The “abnormal” beings hitherto imprisoned in narrow iron cages tear through the curtains and rush out all at once into the endless night, heading in every direction.
LEENALCHI is an alternative six-piece band comprised of three vocalists, two bassists, and a drummer. Formed in 2019, they have become widely known through collaborations with various brands and advertisements. The unfamiliar sound, influenced by unique vocals and new waves, is very danceable and can be enjoyed with familiarity.