#Rock

Kwon Jin-ah Bares Her Heart Through Rock — 3rd EP 'SAVE ME'

Kwon Jin-ah is back, this time wrapped in the sound of rock. The band sound she'd only hinted at in a track or two on past albums is now front and center on her third EP, 'SAVE ME.' And the story she's telling through that sound? An honest confession directed at no one other than herself. The Deepest Story Yet, Told Through Band Sound On the 15th, Kwon Jin-ah held the 'SAVE ME' media showcase at Nol Theater Hapjeong in Mapo-gu, Seoul, and opened up about the album. She shared, "Up until now, I used a rock sound when I wanted to talk about what was in my heart — usually just one or two tracks per album. This time, I filled the whole thing with band sound tracks. I wanted to tell a deeper, more personal story, and I hoped it could be a comfort to others going through the same things." Rock might feel like unfamiliar territory for some, but Kwon Jin-ah herself seemed totally at ease. "I don't think of it as a challenge for me," she said firmly, explaining, "It's just part of who I am — a process of bringing out what's already inside me." She also added, "It's not heavy metal. I think of it as a rock sound that fits within my pop sensibility, so I don't think people will find it too difficult to get into." Title Track 'Monster' — Confronting Self-Hatred The title track is 'Monster (MONSTER).' Her label, Another, described it as "a message of encouragement to shake off the self-hatred that's taken root in our hearts and save ourselves." All five tracks on the EP were written and composed by Kwon Jin-ah herself, once again showcasing her skills as a singer-songwriter. Kwon Jin-ah actually kept her distance from the commonly offered advice to "love yourself." "That phrase never really resonated with me. I always thought it was such an easy thing to say," she explained. Instead, she said, "I wanted to talk about moving forward into tomorrow, even if we can't love ourselves." There was genuine sincerity in her confession: "As I dug deeper into my long, long history of self-hatred, I found that I grew through it too." An Honest Confession, and a Comfort Kwon Jin-ah also quietly opened up about her own experiences. She shared that she "hated her own face and her own voice" when she debuted young, and that she spent a long, difficult time struggling with body image obsession and an eating disorder. Having woven these experiences into the music video, she said, "Of course a healthy body is a good thing" — but added, "I'm not completely free from the culture that glorifies being thin and pretty, and I wanted to talk about that." Her reason for bringing up self-hatred wasn't simply to offer a "It's okay, you've got this" kind of comfort. "I'm just an ordinary 28-year-old woman living in this era, dealing with the same worries and getting through each day just like everyone else," she said. "I hope those who listen feel the comfort of knowing, 'there's someone here who feels the same way.'" "If I Can Talk About It, I'm Grateful for This Life" Finally, Kwon Jin-ah looked back on the anxious early days of her career. "Back then, I was anxious because there was nothing I could decide on my own and nothing I really knew," she said, sharing that she struggled for a long time with the gap between her own standard of what a "professional" should be and where she actually felt she stood. But her mindset has shifted a little since then. She wrapped up with these mature words: "Looking back now, if I can talk about those hardships and be a source of courage for people who share similar worries, I think that makes for a life worth being grateful for." 'You are not alone, and we have to keep living.' This message that Kwon Jin-ah delivers through 'SAVE ME' feels like it could be a quiet comfort to anyone carrying a similar weight in their heart.