Se So Neon Releases Video for “p and q” From Debut Album NOW
Soyoon Hwang co-directed the film with Hyungjun Park, drawing on imagery tied to independence activist Yu Gwan-sun.
South Korean band SE SO NEON has released the official music video for “p and q,” a track from the group's debut album NOW, marking one year since the record's release. Led by songwriter, producer and multi-instrumentalist Soyoon Hwang, also known for her So!YoON! solo project, SE SO NEON has built a sound blending lo-fi and vintage influences with elements of blues, psychedelic rock, new wave and synth pop.
Soyoon describes “p and q” as “the song that most closely resembles the present” on NOW. To capture the disorder of that moment beyond her self-imposed rules, she improvised the lyrics by reading phrases from her notes and kept the first recorded performance. The title came from the lowercase letters “p” and “q,” whose shapes resemble two people facing each other.
Filmed in the summer of 2024, the music video originated from images that came to Soyoon while she was finishing the song in Los Angeles. After returning to Korea that summer, she shared the idea with co-director Hyungjun Park and began developing it into a film. The video follows a figure reminiscent of Yu Gwan-sun (Korean independence activist) as she moves through the streets and delivers a frenzied speech to a group of people gathered in a marketplace. Although the Liberation Day premiere was not planned during production, the imagery of the video has come to intersect unexpectedly with its release date.
Rather than presenting polished and carefully composed images, the video embraces dishevelled faces, broken instruments and bodies moving with raw physicality. 'It took courage to document the present without feeling ashamed of it,' Soyoon says. 'This was a project that helped me find that courage.'
SE SO NEON's NOW continues to receive widespread critical praise both stateside and abroad. Soyoon's guitar playing is key to NOW, aiming to defy genres to create a wholly unpredictable, yet utterly natural landscape, much like the ones she marveled at as a child in Korea and as a young adult in Los Angeles. Sung primarily in Korean, the music is rooted both in the present and in nature, making NOW relatable regardless of any language barrier.
Last week, SE SO NEON debuted a remixed version of the album track 'Remember!' by Japanese artist, record producer and DJ TOWA TEI (of DEEE-LITE). Where the original offered a poignant, cinematic atmosphere, TOWA TEI transforms the reimagined version into a vibrant, late-night dance floor cut. By wrapping Soyoon's captivating vocals in his signature retro-futuristic synths and an infectious house groove, this cross-border collaboration delivers a seamless blend of nostalgia and high-energy electronic pop.
SE SO NEON was formed in 2016 by Soyoon. Mirroring their sonic dexterity, the band has seen various iterations with Soyoon remaining the consistent anchor. Winning 'Rookie of the Year' and 'Best Rock Song of the Year' at the Korean Music Awards in their debut year, SE SO NEON instantly became a leading figure of South Korea's indie scene.
In 2020, SE SO NEON released their EP Nonadaptation, which was featured in Pitchfork's 'The 35 Best Rock Albums of 2020' and Paste's 'The 40 Best Rock Albums of 2020.' In addition, the band was also selected as one of Fender's 'Next Artists of 2020.' SE SO NEON was also the only South Korean band to be selected for YouTube Music's global artist development program, YouTube Music Foundry.
Soyoon has said the song captures a sense of the present moment, with lyrics improvised from her own notes and the first recorded take kept for the final version. The video, co-directed with Hyungjun Park, follows a figure evoking Korean independence activist Yu Gwan-sun and was shot using raw, unpolished imagery rather than a more composed visual style. NOW, sung primarily in Korean, has continued to draw critical attention both in South Korea and internationally.
Photo Credit: Bahno Jung
Photo Credit: Bahno Jung
