Of her brilliant new single, Yaeji’s “One More” video is a self-reflection through visual sensory.
Our beloved Korean-American DJ, Singer, Producer (and sometime rapper) Yaeji is back with her newest single from EP2. Directed by Alex Gvojic, “One More” is a stylish visual full of many Yaeji’s (literally), where we can see nonchalant repetitions of herself. Shot in a fuzzy lit apartment, it started with Yaeji just woken up from her sleep, and in a spin we can see other Yaeji’s doing their own things, from cooking to DJ-ing dressed in a proper casual Issey Miyake’s signature pleats. The music video is a complete re-enactment of her real life, as she loves to host a weekly-themed dinner while also performing some sensory techno beats.
With lyrics sung half in Korean and half in English, for us who didn’t understand Korean, we might just get caught ourselves enjoying the sleek house beats and forget that the laid-back tone and pop lyrics carry a deep meaning. “So I can fall and hurt and learn, but you don’t need to change a thing/That’s how it is,” Yaeji sings. In the emotional lyrics, her words convey anguish even though what we hear is her soothing angelic voice. Yaeji herself has reconfirmed this in her bandcamp page:
“One More (한번만더)” is a track I started while experiencing deep growing pains. I felt lost in my life’s quick change of pace, and betrayed by someone I trusted. I needed to write this song to understand what was happening around me. Throughout the next few months, I kept revisiting the track, adding and taking away bits, changing the synth completely, rewriting a part of the lyrics—it was a constantly changing piece that documented the process of my transformation. Listening to the earliest version of the song through its evolution, I remembered the times I was confused or angry, processed those feelings, understood my pains, and finally felt like I gained a bit of control over it all. “One More” is about enduring and coming to terms with pain until you have the strength to forgive and move on.
While we might think this is partly overwhelming, Yaeji is the definition of a true artist where she can showcase her range of emotions bilingually through her works, while still maintaining a fresh sound and lively beats. To sum it up, “One More” is her self-reflection through sound and visual sensory.