Leenalchi – Here Comes That Crow
Leenalchi (EEE-nal-chi) — the seven-piece Seoul-based band led by bassist Jang Young Gyu — announce their Luaka Bop debut, a new EP entitled Here Comes That Crow, out June 12th, and a North American tour.
In conjunction with today’s announcements, they present the video for lead single and title track, “Here Comes That Crow.”
The music of Leenalchi is taken from pansori, a traditional Korean style of musical storytelling often compared to opera. Rooted in shamanism and developed during the Joseon Dynasty (17th century), these songs tell epic tales of love, virtue, sorrow, and dragon kings. As if reverberating in our ears from a spiritual plane, the sounds emitting from Leenalchi’s singers are transcendent. Their line-up, as singular as their sound, features two bassists, drums, keys, no guitar, and four singers.
The psychedelic riffs found in Leenalchi’s songs are courtesy of Jang, the band’s enigmatic leader, who looms large in the country’s small but dedicated indie music scene. An NPR Tiny Desk concert of one of his former bands, SsingSsing, racked up 9.9 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.” He’s also a prestigious film composer, scoring soundtracks for some of Korea’s most celebrated movies like Train to Busan, The Wailing, and The Good, the Bad, the Weird.
Jang’s work with pansori began in 2007, after composing for choreographer Ahn Eun-me’s piece, Bari. With musicians from that project, Jang went on to form groups such as BIBING, SsingSsing, and eventually Leenalchi.
On “Here Comes That Crow,” as on most Leenalchi songs, Jang wordlessly directs his vision of cross-cultural funk with a collaborative spirit. First comes the rhythm section, developed with drummer Oh Hyung Suk, which sets the foundation for a song, then, singers Park Soo Bum, Ahn Yi Ho, Ra Seo Jin, and Choi Su In draw from the repertoire of pansori songs to discover the most distinctive and fitting sounds.
As part of their training, pansori singers are required to spend time singing next to a waterfall, tasked to carefully observe and mimic the sonic nuances of water. The Korean language is full of onomatopoeias. The repetition in these words create their own rhythmic unit, each word functioning like a tiny song: Kwal-kwal (콸콸) is the sound of a running stream; gaegul-gaegul (개굴개굴) goes the frog; and mimetic words (a slippery floor is mikkeul-maekkeul (미끌매끌); sol-sol (솔솔) is a kind of gentle and subtle slowness).
The band counts many fellow artists as fans, including Brian Eno, Robyn, Japanese Breakfast, and Merrill Garbus (of Tune-Yards), who studied pansori while part of the group Roomful of Teeth.
This summer, Leenalchi will embark on their first-ever North American tour, making stops in Canada and the West coast, including Stern Grove Festival in San Francisco where they’ll support Japanese Breakfast, and a free show at The Getty in Los Angeles presented by KCRW.
Leenalchi 2026 Tour Dates:
Fri. May 29 – Incheon, SK @ Asian Pop Festival @ Paradise City
Sun. June 21 – Ottawa, ON @ Ottawa Jazz
Thu. June 25 – Toronto, ON @ Lee’s Palace
Fri. June 26 – Montreal, QC @ Montreal Jazz Festival
Sat. June 27 – Vancouver, BC @ Vancouver Jazz Festival
Sun. June 28 – San Francisco, CA @ Stern Grove Festival (w/ Japanese Breakfast)
Wed. July 8 – Seattle, WA @ Vera Project (presented by KEXP)
Sat. July 11 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Getty (presented by KCRW)
Thu. Nov. 12 – Amsterdam, NL @ Paradiso
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