Leenalchi – Tiger Is Coming

Leenalchi (EEE-nal-chi) — the seven-piece Seoul-based band led by composer Jang Young Gyu (occasionally written Youngkyu Jang) — release “Tiger Is Coming,” the second single from their forthcoming album, Sugungga, a revival of an 18th century Korean epic, out October 2nd via Luaka Bop.

In conjunction, they also share a special live performance of a track from a recent stop at KCRW in Los Angeles.

As with lead single, “Crying Softshell Turtle,” “Tiger Is Coming” comes from Sugungga, an old pansori tale about a loyal turtle on a mission that runs into a fierce tiger and chaos ensues.

A previous version of “Tiger Is Coming” was originally released in South Korea, where the song quickly became a sensation. Korea’s national tourist board used it for their official promotional videos, and just this past summer, FIFA played it whenever South Korea scored a goal in the 2026 World Cup. Re-recorded and remastered by the band’s new line-up, “Tiger Is Coming” now sounds like animals talking to each other over tripped-out bass lines.

This fall, Leenalchi will hit the East Coast, opening for Geese at Forest Hills in New York on album release day, and play Sylvan Esso’s Good Moon Festival in Durham, alongside shows in Washington, DC, Brooklyn, Philadelphia, Chicago, Pittsburg, Minneapolis, and more.

Ahead of those dates, a highly anticipated Korean adaptation of Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard, featuring Jang’s music and sound design, will premier in New York at the Park Avenue Armory, September 16-26. Directed by Simon Stone, the play stars renowned Korean actors Park Hae-soo (Squid Game) and Jeon Do-yeon, and is produced by Min K. Shin.

Also, in partnership with Korean arts organization Gyopo, Jang’s extensive film work will be highlighted throughout the band’s fall tour with film screenings in various US cities, including a retrospective series at The Metrograph in NYC. The series, which will feature new restorations in 4K and see Mr. Jang in a Q&A with film curator Goran Topalovic, will include Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance (2002), one of his many collaborations with award-winning director Park-Chan wook, Na Hong-jin’s The Wailing and The Yellow Sea, Kim Jee-woon’s A Bittersweet Life and The Foul King, as well as the zombie classic, Train To Busan, directed by Yeon Sang-ho.

Leenalchi is breathing new life into pansori, giving it a psychedelic musical makeover. Their line-up, as singular as their sound, features two bassists, drums, keys, no guitar, and four pansori singers. Jang and his artistic collaborator Ejae lead on bass with Oh Hyung Suk on drums. Over steady infectious rhythms and a synthesizer, master pansori vocalists Park Soo Bum, Ahn Yi Ho, Ra Seo Jin, and Choi Su In sing in the genre’s distinctive, ethereal, technically precise, guttural warble.

Jang comments, “Up until very recently, most Koreans thought of pansori as old fashioned and stale; I want to see if it can be appreciated and enjoyed in the same way as pop music. Will Koreans sing along to pansori?” A major presence in South Korea’s indie music scene, Jang has been working with pansori for two decades. A 2017 NPR Tiny Desk concert of one of his former bands, SsingSsing, has racked up 10 million views on YouTube and was praised by Tiny Desk founder Bob Boilen as “one of my most memorable Tiny Desk Concerts of all time.”

Career Retrospective at Metrograph Oct 2 – 10 (in partnership with GYOPO)
Fri. Oct. 2 – Train To Busan (dir. Yeon Sang-ho, 2016)
Sat. Oct 3 – Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance (Park Chan-wook, 2002)*
Sat. Oct 3 – The Wailing (dir. Na Hong-jin, 2016)**
Sun. Oct 4 – The Yellow Sea (dir. Na Hong-jin, 2010)
Fri. Oct 9 – A Bittersweet Life (dir. Kim Jee-woon, 2005)***
Sat. Oct 10 – The Foul King (dir. Kim Jee-woon, 2000)***

*Q&A with Jang Young-Gyu, Moderated By Goran Topalovic
** Introduction by Jang Young-Gyu & Leenalchi
***  New 4k Restoration

Additional Film Screenings (in partnership with GYOPO)
Sat. October 10 – Durham, NC @ Good Moon Festival (various)
Sat. Oct 31 – Amherst, MA @ Amherst Cinema (The Wailing)
Wed. Nov. 25 – London, UK @ Rio Cinema (Train to Busan)
 
Leenalchi 2026 Tour Dates:
Fri. Oct. 2 – Queens, NY @ Forest Hills (w/ Geese)
Wed. Oct. 7 – Baltimore, MD @ Current Space
Thu. Oct. 8 – Washington, DC @ Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art
Fri. Oct. 9 – Durham, NC @ Good Moon Festival
Wed. Oct. 28 – Philadelphia, PA @ Asian Arts Initiative
Thu. Oct. 29 – Brooklyn, NY @ Pioneer Works
Sat. Oct. 31 – Amherst, MA @ Drake
Sun. Nov. 1 – Kingston, NY @ Assembly
Mon. Nov. 2 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Warhol Museum
Wed. Nov. 4 – Cleveland, OH @ Cleveland Museum of Art
Fri. Nov. 6 – Chicago, IL Sleeping Village
Sat. Nov. 7 – Minneapolis, MN @ The Cedar Cultural Center
Sun. Nov. 8 – Seattle, WA @ Baba Obscura Festival
Thu. Nov 12 – Amsterdam, NL @ Paradiso (Upstairs)
Fri. Nov 13 – Rotterdam, NL @ Grounds
Sun. Nov 15 – Berlin, DE @ Gretchen
Tue. Nov 17 – Hamburg, DE @ Knust
Wed. Nov 18 – Copenhagen, DK @ VEGA Musikkens Hus
Fri. Nov 20 – Aarhus, DK @ Turkis
Sat. Nov 21 – Groningen, NL @ VERA
Tue. Nov 24 – Dublin, IE @ Whelan’s
Thu. Nov 26 – London, UK @ Jazz Cafe
Fri. Nov 27 – Bristol, UK @ The Jam Jar
Sat. Nov 28 – Leeds, UK @ Brudenell Social Club
Sun. Nov 29 – Manchester, UK @ Band on the Wall

#leenalchi