jubainu‘s MOMO is an interesting album. A singer-songwriter (according to her Spotify) and also a member of the band Dummyheart, the nine-song album moves in a lot of directions, but always maintains your attention. Her discography starts in 2020 with a couple of singles and a single in 2021. It’s impressive that she released a full length to properly introduce herself.
“Rabbit on the moon” is an electronic and indie pop rock song. jubainu’s vocals are very light and have a high melody. But it doesn’t sound like she’s straining to hit high notes and it matches the instrumentals. I have to say that “Rabbit on the moon” is pretty standard, it doesn’t extend past the usual conventional arrangements for the style, but it’s a nice cleanser for your ears.
I think her ownership of indie rock is more interesting. “Dreaming” has a bit more weight than “Rabbit on the moon.” It still has that sweet melody but adding more instruments like the bass and drums allows the low end to add some stability. “We !” was a previously released 2021 single and it flows more like an electronic pop track. The layered instrumentation all points towards highlighting melodies and also sounds a bit like a video game track. It’s fun and definitely can attract listeners.
MOMO’s strength is that it has so much variety. It grabs different genres to produce a different but unified sound. jubainu is impressive with her composition and arrangement skills. “Look Back” starts like a simple indie pop track before switching to a broader indie rock track. “Say you know as much as you know” sounds like a school memorial song that slowly builds layers throughout the four minutes and 51-second playtime.
I wonder if jubainu likes composing songs with a melancholy start and then deciding whether to add more energy after the chorus. “Project 2” and “Needy” sound similar. They actually remind me of Ghibli OST songs in their style and emotional weight. Coming at the end of MOMO, they help start to close out the album.
“Matsuko” has a Japanese electro-pop tone and is one of the most energetic songs. It also fills every beat and keeps the tempo and momentum going. “Anguk Station” sounds like a children’s song, but has this underlying mature tone mixing two different perspectives together.
I really liked listening to jubainu. It feels like she has a preferred style that she’s confident in. MOMO sounds a bit disjointed at times, especially if you listen to singles instead of the album as a whole. But there’s a defined audio narrative that runs from “Rabbit on the moon” to “Anguk Station.” I’m curious what jubainu will create next and also what her work in Dummyheart with produce.
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Chris P
Korean Indie owner and Editor at Large. Constantly looking for new music and working on library parity on Spotify and YouTube Music.