Indie girls are go: Fromm, Horan and Finger Soul's lounge ladies

The word "indie" doesn't mean much in Western music any more. In Korea, it seems to be applied to anything that isn't an idol band - which means it's as useful a term as K-pop, which is as likely to encompass Latin and metal as it is trot, rock, folk, hip-hop and trap.

New releases by Fromm, Horan (above) and Finger Soul all fall under the indie category in that they're not idol bands. But apart from that, they don't have a whole lot in common.

Singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Fromm turned up on Simply K-pop last week, sitting alone at a keyboard singing and making clucking percussion noises with her tongue. She was a striking figure wedged between the dancing guylinered guys and netball-skirt wearing girls. She's been promoting for a while but this song was the first that grabbed me:  Moonlight Dancing has staccato strings that provide a spare groove before swelling to a thrum for the chorus and subsiding.

Even the songs I'd written off sound good when listened to as part of Moonbow, an album of elegant tunes. My favourite though, is A Memory of Spring, a reworking of a track she has previously recorded (and one she didn't write). Part waltz, part lullaby, it's a melancholy chamber pop tune with light orchestration. It shows off Fromm's piano chops without being fussy (she's also a lovely singer).

Fromm's delicate melodies swirl around the riffs played on guitar, piano or strings. The arrangements are simple and stunning; the recording is immaculate.
And if you're into idols, a guy from Nu'est sings a duet with her.

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Horan, singer for indie acid jazz-house outfit (more useless genres right there) Clazziquai has released a solo EP, Run to You. The single, She's Alright, is a balmy Jamaican style jam, with syncopated guitar and whirring organ. The stand out track for me, though, is Favourite Nightmare, a slow electronic tune, with a synth for a back beat and rippling chimes punctuating Horan's verses.

Like Fromm, Horan has a lovely voice: pure and clear. Not all the songs resonate - I feel like I've heard the melancholy acoustic rock track that comes in at No. 3 a million times before. That's a bit rich coming from me, given I'm always falling in love with songs that echo 70s soul jazz or 80s electro; I guess this particular sound just doesn't do it for me. And there is nothing as good as Clazziquai's magical Madly from last year. But then very little is that good.

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The kooky and awesome Good Day EP by Finger Soul begins with a Latin theme: a bright bossa nova followed by a sprightly samba; both have the feel of the exotica songs of the 50s and 60s.

A capella was the other musical style that was big at that time (along with electronica) and here are two songs arranged beautifully in an old-fashioned a capella style sung by popular Korean vocal group Maytree. (See them sing with Sistar here.)

When I was in my lounge-exotica phase I loved this kind of stuff. I mentioned Hugo Montenegro's electronic work in a recent post but he also did some fantastic intricate vocal arrangements, as did Anita Kerr, who was an arranging genius.

The a capella tracks appear in other guises: one with instrumentation, still with a heavy 60s lounge lizard jazz vibe; the other, perversely, as an instrumental. Finger Soul, who has composed for television, clearly has a sense of irony.

The album gets more eclectic, with a brisk classical piano piece, Toy, then a fairly straight, if pleasant, jaunty pop track. This EP shows more spark and imagination than the other he did recently with US singer-songwriter Zach Holmes, which appears to be a spin-off from a SuperJunior CF.
Good to see he was able to bounce back.