Korea Creative Content Agency's rookie development program, MUSE ON, has unveiled 10 new acts under their roster of talents.

Their artist lineup features both newcomers and rising indie musicians. The batch includes rock quartet Touched, folk pop artists SamSan and EJel, sibling duo Red C, indie pop singer g0nny, R&B act Otis Lim, male soloists Kim Neuk and Kim Seung-Joo, and singer-songwriters Yeonjeong and Min Chae-young. 

Touched

The band members—composed of Yun Min (vocals),  John B. Kim (bass), Chae Dohyeon (keys), and Kim Seungbin (drums)—have known each other since their university days, studying music together in the same school. But more than musical knowledge, all four of them believe in the moving power of music.

Touched is well-known as a “music contest killer”. The band has received accolades from prestigious competitions like Yoo Jae-ha Music Contest, Great Seoul Invasion, and The Masked Singer. While said competitions run in different formats, Touched’s determination in capturing their audience might be the secret to their success—this wholehearted approach never fails to work.

SamSan

There’s no better term to describe SamSan’s music than “artfully-made”. The integration of Korean traditional instruments danso (bamboo flute), haegeum (two-stringed fiddle), and gayageum (zither) on top of a very modern sound adds a unique and interesting flair to her performances. Each of these music tools offer a local flavor of its own; however, SamSan successfully weaves all these together into her musicality, exuding an inimitable sound that’s distinctly hers.

Born Lee Hae-In, the indie artist took her moniker from her favorite place in the world—the town called Samsan located in Haenam, South Jeolla Province, where she grew up in a hanok-style house built by her family. It’s within those walls that she mastered the haegeum and realized her passion for storytelling, which inevitably led her to study composition. As a young artist who grew up in the era of Korean popular music, studying Korean traditional music in school allowed her to be fluent in both traditional and modern languages.

EJel

Singer EJel is definitely a different artist from who she was at the started her career—she’s opened herself to changes that made her into who she is today. Following her debut as Chang Eun Jeong with her folk single 'The Blue Summer Has Gone', released through the Yoo Jae-ha Music Contest, the singer never ceased to challenge herself—as seen in her performances in audition programs Show Queen and Sing Again. Since she was young, she went beyond her well-loved folk sound and absorbed various genres within herself. 

And this change was unveiled completely in her newest single album called A N E W. The track 'Now or Never' features a cascading firework-like pop sound, a vibrant declaration of EJel's new journey. Meanwhile, 'New Reels' criticizes how everything in our current reality circles around dopamine addiction, and showcases her confidence through her own new "reels", not being dictated by trends. Her route might have shifted from folk to pop, but her lyrical storytelling remains the same.

Red C

Red C's big brother Kim Kyung-chan takes vocals and guitar roles, while younger sibling Kim Eun-chan takes over the drums. The two were naturally exposed to music at a young age, thanks to their parents, who also played the classical guitar and piano. While the environment they grew up in introduced them to classical and old-fashioned pop music, the pair eventually chose rock for their collaborative work. Their sound leans toward the blues-rock genre.

Their exploration of the rock genre initially began through the three-piece project called Honghae. Now, the remaining two members have established a more solidly founded blues sound for Red C. These days, they take music inspiration from Jack White. However, inspiration is there simply to inspire—rather than following someone else's music, Red C tries to look back on their previous work and puts a new spin to it every time.

g0nny

Sincerity resonates. If you listen to g0nny’s music, an artist regarded in present day as a remarkable talent who surpasses expectations in the Korean music scene, those words naturally come to mind. Backtracking on g0nny’s beginnings, she started attracting attention through song covers online. While her initial performances aren’t originals, one should take note that music-loving g0nny'ss true starting point is in her "sincerity" regardless.

Armed with this sincerity, g0nny has chosen her own path that made her into who she is today. Of course, her journey filled her with anxiety and doubts; however, she chose to enjoy the ride as she silently took one step at a time. And last October, g0nny finally released her first EP called Ours, a record that exudes a gentle warmth emanated by someone whose love sincerely transcends beyond oneself.

Otis Lim

Life is about vigor—this sums up Otis Lim’s diverse activities throughout 2024. The starting point of this "vigor" can be traced back in 2021, when he successfully released his EP called Walkin! that captured fans’ attention with the record’s so-called "B-grade sensibility".

But the important thing is not simply being content with a few good results, but creating new opportunities out of them. He has since been naturally traversing pop music’s present and past, expanding his presence in the industry through collaborations with top artists like pH-1 and Jay Park.

Kim Neuk

Singer Kim Neuk stands out simply because he is Kim Neuk. It's in his unique character, as well as in his lyrics that capture moments in life—the fun side of life itself radiating through his music—that we can see a charm that’s uniquely his.

We can say that his strong point, really, is in his lyricism. While this "lyricism" follows its dictionary form meaning of being filled with emotion, it also paints something abstract through skillfully putting together performance, sound, vocals, and lyrics into one cohesive picture. His artistry comes from him placing importance in metaphor. Kim Neuk becomes his own artist through all these processes that are uniquely his. This makes Kim Neuk is an irreplaceable artist—and so is his music. Once you fall for his charm, you'll be in it—deep.

Kim Seung-Joo

“It may be manhwa-like, but my music doesn’t lie.” This is how Kim Seung-Joo describes his music. Perhaps it’s because he spends his days reading these comic books and writing songs—sometimes he writes about plot armor, where the protagonist doesn't die for the sake of the story's progression; other times he gets inspiration from baseball comics in making an album. 

Like a writer who leaves space to consider his audience, he makes music that’s relatable, creating a more immersive space for his listeners. Within his music, a naive and imperfect protagonist resembles us, an overlapping chorus that mirrors our own. He may be using the language of comics, but his stories are as real as can be. This makes his audience stick—hoping that his music will, one day, reach some kind of redemption; an eventual happy ending.

Yeonjeong

Singer-songwriter Yeonjeong’s power lies in her storytelling. And armed with her musical prowess, she continues to narrate her tales through her compositions that speak of love and more. Her journey began when she took to playing instruments as a hobby during her school days. One day, she found no meaning in studying and broke down in tears. It was at this time that her mother reminded her of her passion for music, and unexpected turns of events in her life soon followed.

She gained attention on Soundcloud, then won the Yoo Jae-ha Music Contest, which is regarded as a gateway for aspiring singer-songwriters. Afterwards, she signed with a music label, released an EP, appeared in radio and online guestings, and even performed at the Pentaport Music Festival. This is how the artist climbed the ladder, keeping a steady pace as she continued to blossom. As the title of her second EP—released last October—called The Song That Is Invisible To The Eyes Is suggests, there is a power stifled in the story of music. Yeonjeong carefully relates her stories through the language of music, evoking empathy. 

Min Chae-young

Singer-songwriter Min Chae-young is determined to understand herself to the fullest, and she does so through walking her own musical journey. As seen in various interviews, she looks into her previous records to discover different facets of herself further, as well as silently documents her emotions and thoughts in the language of music that she truly loves. Thanks to this, her music doesn’t force anything upon the listener —but instead carries a power that makes people reflect on themselves.

Within Min Chae-young's language is a power to ignite the embers of the heart, with an intensity that moves you to act on the things you desire. It’s reflected in her work, like her latest single, 'Before I Become Ashes'.