SE SO NEON’s <NOW>: Scattered Every Now and Then

Artwork from Apple Music

There’s a fragmented sensation that pervades much of <NOW>, the first full-length project by then-band now-solo project SE SO NEON, helmed by Korean indie prodigy So!YoOn! [sic] Up until this point, she had been able to delineate the strong-willed and bombastic rock escapades of SSN from the more soulful and introspective indie-pop atmospheres of her solo work, and despite being down every other full-time member besides their figurehead, <NOW> still manages to maintain somewhat of an independent space for itself, though it shows a bit of a struggle in deciding how it wants to present SSN holistically, with two delineated moods that bring to mind distinct sides of SSN—all without the curated harmony of their previous EPs.

The record’s opening three tracks—its main singles—stick the closest to the pop atmospheres of So!YoOn!’s solo work, yet they remain wistfully blissful and euphonic while keeping intact the atmospheres of SSN’s traditional purview of tranquility (i.e., *Winter). Moments that sometimes trail off into a void of auditory fog (e.g., Eden, p and q) are violently juxtaposed by upbeat, head-turning rockers that, despite being drenched with more polish and softening than their previous EPs might have recommended. Tracks like Now, 3 Revolution, and the rerecording of Kidd* still demand heavy attention brought to its pounding and urgent atmospheres, swirling from deceptively unassuming pickup points to wall-climbing crescendos.

The struggle on <NOW> is that these two very delineated sides of SSN’s brand have been so firmly established with much gusto and zest that it makes for a rather convoluted listen, where these two halves are haphazardly wedded to form a listen that sometimes trips over itself when deciding how it wants listeners to feel. (Oddly enough, the tracks debuted 3–4 years ago mesh more nicely with their mood-brethren than the respective halves of the record.) While not much of a problem for the playlist-driven landscapes of today, So!YoOn!’s prior attention to detail would have done wonders to better curate the integration of SSN’s distinct halves, rather than leave <NOW> a high-quality but sometimes clumsy “choose your own adventure” game.

RECOMMENDED TRACKS: Remember!, Now, Secret Police, Kidd, 3 Revolution

26/03/25

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Originally published at https://www.tumblr.com on March 25, 2026.