Ted Min @tedminted / Courtesy of Wavy International
The beloved South Korean indie rock group wave to earth is welcoming a new era.
Today, May 18, the band announced a forthcoming album and world tour, off the heels of releasing their first song since 2024, "heaven and hell," which arrived on Friday. A warm gust of acoustic guitar and folksy pedal steel, the track suggests a new sonic direction for the band. "We’ve been spending most of our time in the studio," they tell The FADER in an email. "We’ve been experimenting with and exploring a wide range of sounds."
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Likewise, the song is accompanied by another rarity for wave to earth: an actual, gorgeously shot music video. After largely only posting visualizers and live performances for the last few years, the group teamed up with director Maureen Hufnagel to film the cinematic visual in Mexico alongside tap dancers and local youths. Watch it below.
Already busy with album and tour prep in Seoul, we checked in with the South Korean indie rock phenoms over email to learn more about the upcoming chapter, the music they've been listening to, and what they've been up to over the last two years.
The FADER: It's been a little under two years since wave to earth released new music. What have you all been up to since then?
Lately, we’ve been spending most of our time in the studio. We’ve been experimenting with and exploring a wide range of sounds while working on the new album.
What's the story behind your new song "heaven and hell?"
We believe everyone still carries a childlike sense of purity within them. In a time where it’s easy to lose touch with your true self, we wanted the song to encourage people to look inward again and live with a more genuine and pure heart.
Listening to the lyrics, it sounds like you're singing about reevaluating ideas about faith. Can you say more about that?
These days, it feels like people are too quick to judge others and divide everything into categories. But we started wondering whether those kinds of judgments are really ours to make in the first place. Sometimes it even feels impossible to fully judge ourselves. Because of that, we felt that staying sincere to the moment and trying not to lose your purity is especially important for artists.
You have a new album coming. Describe the music in three words.
Comfort, purity, lazy.
Ted Min @tedminted / Courtesy of Wavy International
What new music, songs or albums, are you all listening to that you find inspiring?
DANIEL KIM: I’ve been listening to Older by Lizzy McAlpine a lot lately, especially on flights. The songs are great, and the mixes are really inspiring too.
DONGKYU: I’ve been listening to "Common People" by James Smith since last year. I randomly discovered it around Christmas time, and I still remember listening to "Crescent Moon" while it was snowing. It’s not a Christmas song, but it still feels like one to me in a way.
JOHN CHA: I’ve really been enjoying Cameron Winter’s Heavy Metal album lately. I’ve also been revisiting an old Korean band called Loveholic, and listening to them again kind of takes me back to my childhood.
Any new fashion holy grails that you've acquired since the last time we talked?
DONGKYU: I have this leather blazer I bought at a vintage shop back in 2021. The left pocket keeps ripping, but I love it so much that I keep repairing it and wearing it anyway.
KIM: I’ve always loved tabi shoes and also the ASICS x Kiko Kostadinov line. Recently they released a tabi-style version, and I’ve been wearing them a lot.
CHA : Lately, I actually sold almost all of my clothes except for some basic tees and a few pieces from Post Archive Faction, COS, and Amomento. The guys joke that I dress like a team manager at some IT company these days, haha. But honestly, that kind of style is exactly what I’m into right now.
John, you got married and had a baby! Congrats. How's fatherhood treating you?
CHA: It’s a level of happiness that’s honestly hard to put into words.
It feels like I’ve gained my whole world, and whenever my daughter looks at me and smiles, I truly feel like I have everything. I’m incredibly happy, and I want to become a great father.
You're all going on tour soon. Any standout memories from the last time you guys are were on the road — food that you ate or places you went that you're looking forward to?
DONGKYU: Australia was probably the most memorable stop on our last tour. Seeing the endless ocean and nature there felt really refreshing and freeing.
KIM: Paris stands out the most for me. My nieces and nephews live there, so I want to see them again. I didn’t live there for very long, but it still feels like a hometown to me, and revisiting places I used to go as a kid always feels special.
CHA: I still vividly remember one moment from our show in Paris. Out of nowhere, I started playing the melody of “Aux Champs-Élysées,” and all 5,000 people in the crowd began singing along together. It honestly felt like the show would never end in that moment.