(headline image: Dal:um – Photo by Jaeyoung Park)
Dal:um, a Seoul-based duo composed of Ha Suyean and Hwang Hyeyoung specializes in traditional Korean zithers, the gayageum and geomungo respectively. These two musicians are reshaping the soundscape of Korean contemporary music through experimentation, restraint, and cultural introspection.
Both artists trained in gugak, Korea’s classical music tradition, and first crossed paths as members of the Seoul Metropolitan Youth Traditional Music Ensemble. Despite their formal training, they soon sought to push beyond the limits of tradition. The name Dal:um, meaning “to keep pursuing something,” captures their ongoing artistic evolution. Their 2021 debut, Similar and Different (Tak:til/Glitterbeat), introduced an intricate musical dialogue between their instruments. However, with their follow-up, Coexistence, they move from dialogue to unison, expressing a deeper, more integrated sense of connection.
Released on tak:til, Glitterbeat’s instrumental-focused imprint, Coexistence was composed entirely by the duo during the final stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. The creative process was shaped by both their natural surroundings in Seoul and the shifting European landscapes glimpsed during international tours. As the pandemic underscored the fragility of daily life, Dal:um began to reflect on interdependence and the idea of living in harmony with the world around them. “We contemplated the value of living alongside other living things,” they explain. “The question that arose was: how can we harmoniously coexist with the life surrounding us?”
These reflections are embedded in the album’s musical choices. Eschewing additional instrumentation, the duo focused exclusively on their primary tools: the 25-string gayageum, often associated with lyrical melodic phrasing, and the geomungo, whose thick strings and bamboo-stick plectrum produce a percussive timbre. Hyeyoung also explores unconventional techniques, such as bowing the geomungo’s strings to generate waves of grainy, tactile sound.
The album opens with “DOT,” a piece driven by rhythmic urgency and structured around the motif of the musical “dot.” According to the duo, these motifs symbolize continuity and growth, both thematic and musical. In contrast, “Dodry” draws from Suyeonjangjigok, a royal court composition from Korea’s Joseon Dynasty, mixing historical reverence with minimalist abstraction. The piece mirrors the repetitive structures of daily life, offering a moment of stillness that evokes the meditative qualities of a nocturne.
Elsewhere, the track “Poison and Antidote” draws inspiration from the conceptual work of British artist Cornelia Parker, known for combining opposing elements. The interplay between instruments here becomes physical, almost combative, before resolving into harmony, mirroring the theme of transformation. Meanwhile, the closing piece, “In the Deep,” is a musical response to My Octopus Teacher (2020), a documentary about a diver’s bond with an octopus. Dal:um interprets the film’s exploration of nature and empathy through undulating melodies and inquisitive sounds, evoking the ocean’s beauty and danger.
Discography:
Similar and Different (Tak:til/Glitterbeat, 2021)
Coexistence (Tak:til/Glitterbeat, 2024)
Author: Tyler Bennet
