‘Take a look around’ opens like a window at daybreak. The new single from Korean five-piece Another Season sets classic pop chord movement against a samba rhythm that refuses to sit still, and vocalist Hyo Jung Kim sings of morning light and the plain decision to start over.

The arrangement earns its Brazilian pop label honestly. Sung Rak Choi on keys and Hyungtae Kim on saxophone carry the melody, while JC Curve on bass and Yangho Chung on drums keep the samba pulse loose and swinging. The jazz training in the band shows in how much room each player leaves the others. Nothing is oversold — the groove is warm, unhurried and built to be lived in rather than admired from a distance.

Samba rhythm, jazz phrasing and a sunrise — a Korean take on Brazilian pop that keeps its warmth.

The band has been building this sound in public. Another Season shared the Nodeul Island stage with Lee Ji-young of Big Mama at the 2023 Seoul Music Festival and recently joined the line-up for the Team Mupe Sanjimul Park Festival, with two full-length albums and an EP already behind them. ‘Take a look around’ arrives as a signpost towards their third full-length.

The cover art says as much as the music does: a golden sunrise, hand-lettered type and scattered note motifs, pointing at the same rising sun the lyric describes. Put it on early, before the day has decided what it wants to be.

#MPB #JazzPop #KoreanIndie