The way Yaeji expresses the anger and rage she's built up on With a Hammer is quite uniquely personal and original to hear. It's a smartly executed debut album that's filled with diverse blends of pop, electronica and hip hop production.
Kathy Yaeji Lee is a singer, DJ, and producer from Queens, NY. With roots from her Korean family background, Yaeji has been hopping all over he place during her early years, from the different areas of the U.S. to Japan to South Korea. Growing up with this diverse array of cultural backgrounds, Yaeji is influenced by not just a single culture like many people tend to do in their early years. Singing in both Korean and English, Yaeji has a distinctly fluid way of shifting back and forth between languages. It never sounds awkward or oddly placed; she flows from one language to the other with a sound of purpose and intent. Her music tends to be a nice tasteful blend of pop, hip hop, and house music that sounds very colorful and refreshing to me. Her voice is typically at a lower, quieter register which contrasts nicely with the bombastic electronic production that she works with. Yaeji sounds very spontaneous with her music but I'm sure there's a lot of focus and detail put into crafting her songs.
After several years of releasing singles, EP's, and a mixtape, Yaeji has finally released a debut studio album. Typically debut albums introduce the artist and in this case it's a bit different since she's been releasing music for several years at this point. To be honest, I'm not entirely familiar with her work. I remember listening to her debut mixtape What We Drew 우리가 그려왔던 back in 2020 when it originally came out and although it was pleasant to listen to, it felt really like chill background music for me and I don't remember too much from it. Aside from the tape, I haven't heard anything else outside of With a Hammer, Yaeji's debut album that just came out on XL Recordings. You don't necessarily have to listen to anything else prior to getting into this album, that's just my current status right now. I was initially interested in the album's weird concept of creating a "hammer" character and personifying it. You can see that Yaeji is wielding it on the album's cover and the imagery within her music videos too. The visuals and overall aesthetics of With a Hammer are pretty creative, playful, quirky, and you quickly get to know Yaeji's personality when approaching this album.
Not only is the concept of the hammer imagery interesting but how Yaeji portrays the album itself as a release of anger and rage she's kept over time. It's like a boiling point that simply hit her during lockdown, where she's forced to think about these things in her life that she would simply ignore or put in the background. When looking at Yaeji or viewing her in interviews, she seems to be a very subdued, quiet and shy individual. I wouldn't initially expect her to have such an explosive attitude within her music but the way she expresses the anger and rage she's built up on With a Hammer is quite uniquely personal and original to hear. It's a smartly executed debut album that's filled with diverse blends of pop, electronica and hip hop production. There's a ton of detail when listening to the album across its thirteen tracks including woodwinds, bubbly synths, layered harmonies, quirky guitars and booming beats. There's a lot of quirk and vibrant bursts of color that you would want in an album in this vein.
The album opens with "Submerge FM," which has some beautiful flutes and chirpy keys that flow into some of the most gorgeous harmonies on the album. It soon breaks into a faster paced groove that cooly paces. It also features one of my favorite lines I've heard all year, which is "Is only what you see, what you believe? Internet said there's nothing we can do to save a future generation.""For Granted" is the lead single and a favorite for me. I like the groovy beat and 90's electro pop vibes I'm getting. The latter part of the track shifts into a super fast breakbeat style that's super satisfying and explosive to hear. "Fever" has these really weird, off kilter guitar tones that you may hear on a Battles or black midi record. The song's themes of the racist "fever" one may have when negatively categorizing people of Asian descent is cleverly placed in the song's lyrics. "Passed Me By" has one of the catchier melodies on the album and a nice slowed down, chilled out instrumental singing about the passage of time and how it affects you. I enjoy the sentiment of "I'll Remember for Me, I'll Remember for You," where Yaeji expresses connections people will have for each other despite speaking in a different language. The echoing trumpets are very beautiful and I love the line, "even though we don't share the same mother tongue, I'll write it down for you."
"Done (Let's Get It)" is a sunny upbeat motivational tune to get up and express yourself. It's definitely one of my favorites on the album. "Michin" has by far the most abrasive tone on the album where Yaeji's vocals become very loud and in your face with the volume maxed out. It's a unique moment that definitely adds to her themes of getting that energy of anger out. "Away X5" is another favorite for me. The bouncy instrumental is really fun and I love how her choppy vocal harmonies flow with the keys and percussion. "Happy" is a duet of sorts that features additional vocals from Nourished by Time and is a nice change of pace for the album with moody keys and a fast paced rhythm. "1 Thing to Smash" has these quirky, bouncy electronics that are reminiscent of an Animal Collective record and some lush woodwinds flowing in and out of your headphones.
I was pretty impressed by this album. Even though I've only heard it a few times up until this point, I'm looking forward to listening to this album more and letting these songs sit and grow in my head. Yaeji is very talented and although it took awhile to hear her on a debut album, I'd say it's worth the wait for all the fans who've been along with her through her career. It's an album that's definitely personal, uniquely herself and features some really great production of hip hop, pop, and electronic music. I thought her concept of releasing pent up energy and anger is cleverly displayed across this record in both Korean and English languages. The track listing is diverse and the album has a great flow from start to finish. Even though I'm wasn't that familiar with Yaeji going into this one, I'm glad I checked it out. For those who have interest in quirky, unique, and personal music varying from electro pop to hip house, then I'd give With a Hammer a swing. (Sorry... hammer pun.)
My Rating: 8 / 10
Favorite Songs: "For Granted," "Submerge FM," "Done (Let's Get It)," "Away X5," "Michin," "Passed Me By"
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