A farewell with a promise to meet again can be more heartrending than a permanent goodbye as it must last throughout the waiting period. For Sung Si-kyung (29), who is about to start his military service, his just-released sixth album "Here in My Heart" is just that: it's bye for now, but we'll meet again.
In an interview with the Chosun Ilbo, he seems tired. "I'll probably start duty in July, though the date isn't exact", he says. On May 12, he quit the MBC FM late night radio show "Blue Night with Sung Si-kyung", which he had hosted for two years and seven months.
Sung Si-kyung. /Courtesy of Jellyfish Entertainment
"A late-night radio show brings you close to the listeners but further from the world. I quit it early to prepare for the album and concert and look after my health", he says. He has a thesis left to submit to complete his master's at the Korea University Graduate School of Journalism and Mass Communication: it's about the music selection on FM radio.
"I was never afraid that people would forget me. Believe it or not, I also never wanted to be famous or a superstar. I just worry that I'll be cut off from society and lose my musical sense during the two years, as I won't be able to invest in myself".
"I worked madly on the album sleeping two hours a day, and at times I thought 'what is all this work for?'" He was clearly feeling nervous and depressed, as most men do before military service.
Big-name composers including Yoo Hee-yeol, Kim Hyun-chul, Jung Jae-hyung, Roh Young-sim and Kim Kwang-jin worked on the new album. He wrote two songs himself, including the title song "Goodbye, My Love", a collaboration with Yoo. He may be a multitalented entertainer, but his focus has always been on music.
His vocals particularly shine in songs that dispense with too much echo in production. Except for the title song, the album has a lonely feel, like a winter streetlamp. "I have a talent for acting out the lyrics and melody", he says. "I would be singing but at the same time acting out a 3:30 minute long ballad. The album inevitably includes a lot about departure, reflecting my situation".
He initially asked not to talk much about his military service, but he always came back to it at the end. It is clearly a sore point. "If I had an audio, keyboard and books, two years in prison would be better", he says.
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