PRECOCIOUS NEOPHYTE – HOME IN THE DESERT

Description

Precocious Neophyte is the shoegaze/dreampop project of South Korean singer-songwriter Jeehye Ham. After gaining recognition both in the Korean indie scene and abroad as vocalist/guitarist of Vidulgi OoyoO (shoegaze/postrock) and guitarist of JuckJuck Grunzie (noise/psychedelic), Ham relocated to Chicago where she began

experimenting with home recording. In 2019, she released an EP comprised of intimate acoustic compositions under the name Sophysoon. With Home in the Desert, Ham embraces the solitary action and lo-fi aesthetics of home recording to create a fuzzier, more expansive sound, inspired by the organized noise of bands she grew up with in

Korea’s indie scene. Home in the Desert, written and recorded in her apartment between 2021-2022, developed out of Ham’s attempts to envision how skeletal guitar lines might sound when performed live at ear-splitting volumes by a full band. “I never expected that I would

make loud music again, but one day I took my guitar out and started jamming on my own.“ As its title suggests, Precocious Neophyte’s debut release negotiates the impossible longings for perpetual spaces and times of home. In doing so, Ham fills unstable distances with what KEXP calls “ethereal vocals and soaring melodies,” and cradles the insecurities of isolation in overdrive warmth and many layers of distorted

guitars.