박혜진 Park Hye Jin: Never Die | 4ZZZ Brisbane 102.1FM

- Before I Die, the debut full length from Korean hypebeast, IDM and house producer 박혜진 Park Hye Jin is an expansive foray into the multifaceted electronica that has shaped her EPs and magnetic live shows to date. Though the world has reached a stand-still, the buzzing sounds of Before I Die cannot be contained; literally, 박혜진 Park Hye Jin is determined to let her music do the speaking.

After years of hopping around the globe, from residing in Seoul to Melbourne, London to Los Angeles, Park’s second EP How Can I fixated on the emotionally charged, overbearing nature of touring. Before I Do seems the opposite, Park is no longer burnt out, but determined. As grim as the record’s title may sound, it’s not sullen, it’s strong.

In the title track, effervescent IDM orbits as Park sings, “I miss my mom, I miss my dad /  I miss my sister, I miss my brother.” Her production whirls around her vocals as she openly resigns to the sadness of the distance between her family in South Korea. Speaking in English and rapping in Korean, some phrases are lost in translation; see her mention of California and Australia, caught between two languages, in English it translates to, “I'm sick of every night's nightmare / My right hand keeps asking for a gunshot gun / I have to keep myself alone / I must protect myself / This is California, before that Australia / Wow, all alone to the UK / On my own”. It’s a far cry from the tracks Me Trust Me and i jus wanna be happy.

Never Die opens with a sample of a commentator naming cities, while Park’s production distorts the traditional, urban sprawl of the sample, repeating “in my life” over and over until the words are barely able to be comprehended. Moments like these, in between rapping in English and Korean, her production speaks for her. Though some of the lyrics across the world are incredibly sad, there’s an uplifting feeling to the optimistic, cathartic buzz of the instrumentals.

In Hey, Hey, Hey pounding bass intensifies over five minutes, through distortion and echoing reverb. It’s her best Aphex Twin impression but feels distinctly personal, a release of rage that her previous two EPs did not have the running time to afford.

For all of the gloom that Before I Die conjures, at the heart of the record, 박혜진 Park Hye Jin embraces cautious optimism. With the pandemic slowly fading into the horizon for the United States, where she currently resides in LA, and a debut album out in the world, there’s seemingly so much to do, before she dies.

- Sean Tayler.