K-Pop Beyond The Charts is a weekly review column highlighting Korea's modern day musical innovators who have yet to find mainstream success.
As anyone who consistently follows the South Korean music scene (or reads this column regularly) surely knows by now, Humming Urban Stereo have built a prolific career on going in extreme and unexpected musical directions from jazz to techno to even composing a jingle for Baskin Robbins in 2010, in their 11-year history.
And though any fan of the group will rightfully always mourn the loss of lead singer Lee "Sugar Girl" Jin Hwa's death from heart failure in 2012, producer and the band's only consistent member Lee Jeereen is reverently honoring the sound the late vocalist was so vital in helping create with his frequent collaborator in the years since, Sugar Flow.
On Humming Urban Stereo's "Stupid," released on Monday as part of the group's two-song "Dopamin 5-1" single, Lee and Sugar Flow don't attempt to make any seismic shifts in their sound as a band, but rather blend the best aspects of the synth-drenched electro funk with the kind of soothing songwriting that they've become famous for.
Sure, there are shades of other artists, most detectably "Discover"-era Daft Punk and Prince, but Lee is an artist who is clearly way past aping other artists or producers.
Instead, this restless veteran of the music industry is comfortable enough with himself and his group to wear his influences on his sleeve.
And the amazing thing is, by playing to his strengths and interpreting his heroes in his own way and with Sugar Flow in tow, Humming Urban Stereo sound as original as ever.
Listen to "Stupid" featuring Sugar Flow from the new single release by South Korean synth-driven dance band Humming Urban Stereo entitled "Dopamin 5-1" RIGHT HERE
