It’s been a long two years since G.Soul enlisted. Fans of the honey-voiced singer were elated when he was finally discharged, promising new music upon his return. Almost as soon as he became a civilian again, he signed with Jay Park’s H1GHR Music and changed his stage name to something many would consider more apropos: Golden.
Step 1: Hate Everything
“Hate Everything” is the type of song that gets caught in your soul and tends to stay there. More than a lament of love lost, this is a song about the all-encompassing darkness that enfolds someone after a significant loss. It resonates so deeply with the public because we’ve all been there. Had to accept the heart-cracking truth that the one we loved with our entire being no longer wants to be with us.
More than the loss of the physical body, there’s a sudden tear in the soul. As if every aspect of who you are is shattered and you can’t seem to piece yourself back together. “Hate Everything” is a heavy track. A startingly bold opening to an album. Particularly an album meant to mark a comeback. Golden doesn’t return to us with a bang. He comes back with a broken sob.
Step 2: Acceptance
While the opening track is all heartache and hopelessness, “Broken Record” offers a different perspective. Oh, be sure there’s still a feeling of utter loss. But the music borrows from Golden’s affinity for house music. He sits in that pocket so wonderfully. His voice gracious in its variety.
Step 3: Relearning Trust
The album flows elegantly from breathtaking sorrow to moments of audacious strength. A complete loss of self spills into a bolder Golden. “Confidence” quite literally reintroduces the notion of trust into our protagonist’s life. Golden employs the alternative definition of the word. Not that he’s sure in himself or arrogant. Rather he’s allowed himself to “confide in,” willingly give himself over to the risk of love once again.
Step 4: Begin Again
Then, oh then… “Get Up.” If there was any doubt that this man is an honest-to-goodness sanger, this track just shut you all the way up. This is the “soul” of G.Soul. What made me sit up and take notice the moment he opened his mouth. The sentiment is one we can all relate to. Needing something to inspire us to pick ourselves up after the world has kicked us down. That Golden chose to ground it in a simple blues speaks to the heart of the man. It goes without saying Golden flourishes in this gospel-tinged R&B. He was borne of this! An old soul wrapped in the body of a young man. His full range on display. Showcasing some of that Tevin Campbell-inspired vocal artistry. Golden/G.Soul at his best is absolutely love.
The Stages of Grief
One of the more fascinating aspects of the EP is just how varied the musical landscape is. We open on the mournful twang of a piano. Isolated. A solitary ache made of wood and string. We slip deeper into melancholy lyrically, but musically the album opens up. The house elements are airier. While “Hate Everything” choked the life and hope out of him, “Broken Record” gave him room to breathe. He then enlists all the coy seduction of a midtempo late-’80s/early-’90s groove. He also expands the borders of his vocal. Making utterly delicious use of his baritone. Either he’s been holding out on us, or he was waiting for this moment of reincarnation to see how far he could really push himself.
Step 5: Healing
Of course that’s the point, isn’t it? Though the album’s title suggests an entire EP rife with brokenness, what we’re being gifted is the stages of grief. We start in the thick of it: self-loathing, a hatred of even the air he breathes. He then accepts what was, lets it go, then learns to trust again and finally heal. The final stage is reflection. Hence the Korean version of the title track. Using his adopted language of the last 20 years for the meat of the album. Then he falls back into his birth tongue–a man returning to the arms of his mother for that final piece of comfort to stitch the wound.
What an utterly gorgeous, intelligent piece of music Golden has gifted us.
A Fond Return
“Hate Everything” is such a blessing. After two years of forced silence, Golden has come back reborn. He’s stepped into the next decade ready to explore new avenues. Perhaps that’s the reason behind restarting his career on the desperate, desolate notes of grief. Shedding the old skin to give himself another chance at something pure. Honest. “Circles” left us hopelessly cast in a thick shadow, unsure if we’d ever see the sun again. “Hate Everything,” in fact, gives us hope for more a new dawn.
I can’t stress how genuinely happy I am at G.Soul’s return. While I do acknowleedge and accept the name change as a means to reshape his future, he will always be G.Soul to me. But as Shakespeare penned, a rose by any other name… How sweet it is that we have this man back!