Dabda, a four-piece indie rock band based in Seoul, South Korea, is set to released their new EP, Yonder, via Electric Muse on August 25th. Dabda are a math rock-inspired band that specializes in creating beautiful chaos. Seunghyun Lee(Drums) and Jiae Kim(Vox/Guitar), who met at their university band club, headed to Seoul with the unified thought of starting a band together. During their starting period, Dabda had yet to decide their musical paths which let them perform unidentified genres of music that happened to be somewhere between folk and post-rock. Constant changes in band members also led to their ever shifting music style. In 2016, with the joining of Joseph Lee(Guitar), they finally landed on a brand new lineup and released their debut EP, Island Of Each. Following its release, a wild wave of new opportunities kicked off by their appearance in Naver’s ONSTAGE live session (South Korea’s largest portal platform) in February of 2018. Opportunities to participate in overseas showcases and festivals such as Liverpool Sound City(UK), Bangkok Music City(TH), and Playtime Festival(MN) followed shortly after. A year later, Dabda released their first full-length album, But, All The Shining Things Are. Unfortunately, the pandemic hit the world by surprise at the time of the album’s release which led to most of the activities surrounding the album being cancelled. Despite facing a great misfortune, they tried their best in continuing their activities in whatever form possible and in 2021, Dabda released their collaborative single “Jungle Gym” with Toe’s Takashi Kashikura. It was around this time that Keohyun Noh(Bass) joined and the current lineup was completed. “Jungle Gym” was showcased in Pitchfork Media’s “Pitchfork Selects,” and included as a special bonus track in their Japan re-release of their debut album through Disc Union Japan. In early 2022, Dabda started working on new songs using a jam the band had been using as a show opener served as a catalyst to begin experimenting. They developed the songs by sketching ideas from jamming together to create songs that can run wild during big festival stages while exploring sounds new to the band. These five new songs on Yonder tell the story of the longing of the band and the youth of their generation to overcome the hopelessness they face. “We tried to capture the yearning and wishing of nature itself in our latest EP. The power of nature I felt during my trip to Thailand was an intense experience. The gap between the manufactured nature in vacation spots, which we usually are comforted with, and the nature that exists wildly was interesting. We tried to capture the changing of air according to the season when the songs were made and I hope that the various temperaments of nature contained in each song will comfort and liberate the listeners. The instrumental track “Playing with Fire” contains nature as a roaring fire-like power. The intro track played during the start of our performance was the starting point of the idea. “Flower Tail” tells the story of a voyage through the horizon, sailing on a flower boat in the tropical sea. At the same time, the song is about the ones who set sail and leave for somewhere. In southern Thailand, the bow of a long-tailed wooded boat is decorated with flowers of different shapes, which is said to be a wish for the well-being of fishermen leaving for the sea. The third track, “Origin,” contains the pitifulness of the weight of earnest prayers and hopes. The fourth track “Cloud City” features an image of a city mixed with overflowing love songs and disturbing noise. The final track “One, World, Wound” started with a melody made from humming. The song, which concludes the EP, contains comfort given out to each individual’s wounds. We ourselves, who live on with our own wounds, can become another wound to someone. Everything we do has equal value and the most important thing is to get up and do something. I wish you would come back and listen to this song whenever you struggle with everything feels meaningless.” With the August 25th release of Yonder on Electric Muse, Dabda reminds us that the future is in the hands of the young and that the future is filled with hope. [Credit] All songs composed, produced, arranged & played by Dabda All lyrics by Jiae Kim(except #5 by Jiae Kim, Joseph Lee) Drums Recorded by Donghee Lee @Sangsangmadang Live Studio Other Recorded by Mingyu Kim @Electric Muse Studio Mixed by Keohyun Noh Mastered by Joe Lambert Mastering Cover Art by Swim Design by Jiae Kim Photos by Jiun Shin Music Video "Flower Tail" by Soonyang Art | "One, World, Wound" by Swim