'Invisible Worker' by yonglee & the DOLTANG

'Invisible Worker' marks the new release from yonglee & the DOLTANG who present a notably imaginative and multi-faceted take on their music.

Released through Unit Records - home to projects by Anissa Damali, Benjamin Koppel and Marton Juhasz - the South Korean quintet have openly declared much of the album's outlook to be rooted within the type of everyday hypocrisy and contradictions that appear to make our world keep spinning.

And there's certainly no shortage of that type of thinking when it comes to us as everyday individuals all the way up to the divisive politics that make each of us lose faith in our political leaders on a daily basis.  What prompts even further somewhat ingenious context to younglee & the DOLTANG's message is in fact how 'Invisible Worker' delivers this very message...

There's something about listening to this album and having its descriptive tags running through your head like "progressive rock", "electronic experimentation" that all seem to play a part in cementing pre-conceived notions of what you expect this music to subsequently sound like - it's actually a technique that ties eloquently into the album's notion of hypocrisy and contradiction.  For that reason, while tags can be an aid in deciphering whether something may or may not be a comfortable fit for a listener before they even press play, it may be fair to say that they can be a detriment as well.

Comprised of five long-time friends, yonglee & the DOLTANG are made up of pianist yonglee, Youngwoo Lee on synths and electronics, Yechan Jo on guitars, Hwansu Kang on bass and Dayeon Seok on drums.  Although this album may serve as their debut, the quintet perform with a comfort that would almost point to this being there fifth album together. 

The album's intro plays up to much of the project's over-arching themes immediately with its almost disjointed harmony - a ghost in the machine, so to speak.  And while tracks throughout 'Invisible Worker' certainly fit the description of the harder and rougher-edged compositions, tracks like 'Fluorescent Light' - aided by an excellent vocal from Song Yi Jeon - present a more playful aesthetic to the band replicating a sublime almost transcendent groove that offsets some of the more unpredictable tracks from the album.  But then a track like 'Pay Day' skilfully captures the album's frenetic nature as it changes pace and tone staying one step ahead of what anyone might expect from the composition. 

'Invisible Worker' marks a self-assured debut from yonglee & the DOLTANG - an album bursting with personality, incredible performances and scintillating energy.  Regardless of whatever you think this is going to sound like, press play and listen to the opposite.