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Song You Need: The rich oddity of Yaeji’s “Passed Me By”

The song appears on the Korean-American electronic artist’s new album With A Hammer.

April 10, 2023

The FADER’s “Songs You Need” are the tracks we can’t stop playing. Check back every day for new music and follow along on our Spotify playlist.

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The title of Yaeji's debut album With A Hammer is an accurate one, but not for the reasons you may think. Rather than doubling down on the heart-quickening club glamour of tracks like "Raingurl" and her cover of Drake's "Passionfruit," the Korean-American artist feigns left and delivers a crushing haymaker of abstract electronic pop, deeply introspective while mindful of her roots.

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Yaeji is in full command of her powers on "Passed Me By," the project's final pre-release single. Over yawning synths, she appraises her days like Goldilocks ("a little weak, a little strong") and reminds herself of her own internal strength ("I light a little fire/Anything that touches me will evaporate"). Then the groove kicks in, a placid thing that would sway a sea anemone back and forth and an ideal space for the sparse surrounding elements: here a burst of keys, there a creeping lead melody that hints at some unease. That's just for color, though — "Do you know that, that person is still/Inside of you waiting for you to notice?" Yaeji sings at the end, a declaration of self-assurance whispered so quietly that it feels like it could have come from our own brains.

Posted: April 10, 2023