Lisa is one of Korea's many underrated artists. She has released three albums to date and, while many other Korean artists enjoy a certain level of underground success in Europe and America, this one jewel seems to go somewhat ignored. There seems to be very little reason for this, especially as she speaks English, German and Swedish on top of her native Korean due to stints of studying abroad. Her most recent single Naega mannal saram is a collaboration with Eun Ji-Won (Sechskies) and Harim. This single is unusual in that it claims to be made up of 1 song and three different instrumental versions.
The title track is a beautiful, acoustic guitar based number. The song has elements of folk in it and Lisa's voice is simply beautiful throughout. She has quite a light voice yet it has a certain power behind it that makes it irresistible. The collaboration comes with the inclusion of rap parts. It's not immediately obvious how rap could fit into such a sweet acoustic song but the rap is light and not at all harsh, so not only does it not sound out of place but it adds a nice dynamic to the track.
The other tracks are what claim to be instrumentals. The first is just simply an the instrumental of the original song. The second is a "Milab" version. The track is pretty much the same but it has a slightly more bossa nova feel to it with an accentuated beat and more piano parts.
The last track, although it claims to be an instrumental, is actually not, strictly speaking. This "first mix" version is basically the original song without Lisa's vocals but with the rap and backing vocals. While the track does seem a little empty without her voice, it actually works quite well as a stand alone track!
The single probably would have been better if it included more than the one song, but it was only released as a digital single so it's not too surprising that that's all there is. Having said that, the song that is featured is absolutely beautiful and could well be worth the price alone. It succeeds in making you want to hear more from the artist and makes you wonder why she isn't more widely acknowledged.
