South Korean shoegazers Swiimers haven’t had the most linear career – singer MQ Cho (조민경) fronted Ultra High-Frequency, who released a debut EP in 2012, before forming the new outfit with a similar sound and putting out a self-titled EP in 2016 (covered in previous posts) and a handful (well, three) singles over the next six years. Enough activity to remain in the “Active concerns” column, but not enough to get too invested in what they’re doing next.

Well almost a decade from their last release, they seem finally ready to make a proper push for attention. For the last month, their Instagram has been doing the whole big grid image billboard thing, showing off their glammy new promo photos (and why not, the band look great), and announcing the arrival of their new single and video, “Erika”, as the first taste of their debut album Swiimers High.

The song and video both are smooth and shiny, sung in both English and Korean for a bit of that K-Pop crossover formula, perhaps, and rich with dramatic build and emotional themes. Say the band in the YouTube description:

고독은 조건 없는 사랑의 다른 얼굴.
사랑은 어떤 형태로든 곁에 머무르는 것.

스위머스의 첫번째 정규 앨범에 앞서 공개되는 마지막 싱글입니다.
오래 기다리셨습니다.

Loneliness is the other side of unconditional love.

Love is about staying by your side, in whatever form it takes.

This is the final single released before Swimmers’ first full-length album.

You’ve waited a long time.

Swiimers – “Erika” @ YouTube

And interestingly, for all the promotional push they’ve done for the song and announcing the new album, the only place I could find the actual release date for Swiimers High – and I looked as much as someone who does not understand Korean could – is in the YouTube description. It’s October 22.