Music

BEHIND THE ALBUM: Su Lee's 'Messy Sexy'

In honour of the release of her debut album, South Korean artist Su Lee breaks down her top five favourite tracks from the new record, and tells us the story behind them.
Su Lee. Photo: Sela Shiloni.
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BEHIND THE ALBUM: Su Lee's 'Messy Sexy'

Across 12 thoughtful and introspective songs, Su Lee lends her musical talent to an EP filled with messages around acceptance, care and what it means to love and see yourself. The album is a musical landscape centred around upbeat guitar riffs, lightweight keys, and breezy confluent vocals that pushes her sound beyond her previous, cheery bedroom pop sound to surround the listener in the comfort of escape and self-awareness.

Take a look at Su Lee's top five tracks from the record:

1. 'SONDER'

I’ve always wanted to make a song where I play the cello (and yes, I can play! :D). 'Sonder' is the first manifestation of this idea. It took me a 12 hour of finger-busting session, playing all the string parts in this song, but dangggg it was so worth it!!! I would say 'Sonder' is definitely my top favorite track and the one I’m most proud of.

Su Lee. Photo: Sela Shiloni.

2. 'MESSY SEXY'

This song really captures the essence of the album as a whole: to face the chaos and messiness of life, and embracing it. I’m always scared.
No matter what the circumstances are, the world (or just my brain) always seems to throw me a reason to sh*t my pants or get super self conscious.

That’s what life is; that’s how the world works I guess. Things just get messy and uncontrollable! So I made this song (and the album as a whole) as a gesture of embracing that chaos and turning it into something beautiful.

3. 'SUPER HAPPY (feat. Ariza)'

My first trilingual song (featuring Ariza – Korean, English, and Spanish)!

4. 'MAYFLY (feat. Miki Fiki)'

I chose this song as one of my favorites because it hits home with the way I’ve been feeling recently. 'Mayfly' is about loving a moment/a person/an experience so much that you already feel sad about its ending. It’s about the inevitable goodbye that’s inherent in all things in life.

5. 'CUCKOO'

'Cuckoo' is basically me saying “Thank you for your concern for my depression and anxiety. But no, I can’t just snap out of it and do my dang dishes and act like a normal human being, because my brain literally feels like it’s getting deep fried right now.”

Messy Sexy is out now. Su Lee can be found on Instagram, Twitter and all major streaming platforms.
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