- Wielding rage like—you guessed it—a hammer, Yaeji opens up her work to new styles, feelings and bracingly personal lyrics.
- "It's true that it may seem surface-level—oh, you're just remembering when you were younger?—but I'm telling you now that literally, I have never felt these feelings before." This is Yaeji speaking to Pitchfork's Cat Zhang last month, explaining a spiral chart she created to accompany her new album, With A Hammer. The chart comes as part of an 111-page booklet that contextualises the album and includes a fictional story, paintings and even entries from her personal journal. It traces Yaeji's emotional development, coming to terms with anger and resentment she had suppressed as a child—a period that she channels into her charged and surprisingly bracing new LP.
The honesty, vulnerability and occasional goofiness of Yaeji's work—particularly her lyricism—is one of the main reasons why she's connected with such a large fan base since her 2017 debut, which paired house beats with lyrics about real life and dance floor reveries. On With A Hammer, she attacks her subjects with newly sharpened precision, using the expanse of popular music to paint a more nuanced picture of anger and resentment.
Yaeji uses trip-hop, drum & bass and indie rock as vehicles for her rage. "For Granted" is an early example of how that takes shape—what begins as a lighthearted electro pop bop unleashes into a drum & bass wind tunnel after she whispers into the ether, "let it flow." Something similar happens with "Michin," featuring Enayet, which detonates like an explosion after the contemplative bassy bubbler "Ready Or Not" (with K Wata). In the intro to "Michin," Yaeji switches between Korean and English line for line, "My head / What they do / Whatever it says / You can't deny it," and counts to ten in Korean, before letting rip with verses like "Smash it like crazy / Let's show it like crazy / It rises like crazy / And falls down like crazy," which she shouts into the mic over a booming beat. These lyrics are clearly inspired by Yaeji's obsession with rage rooms—places where people pay to go and smash things up—but there's a duality in the way they reflect inner turmoil, too.
Not all of the LP's heavy moments signify pure anger. On "Fever," Yaeji's voice turns cocky, channelling strength and defiance. Over menacing guitars and a punch-drunk trip-hop beat, she raps about "yellow fever" (when non-Asian people pursue Asian women sexually) and how minorities are expected to erase their true feelings and desires. In Korean, she raps, "Would they know what it's like to suppress, suppress, to be suppressed / I feel so bad for myself thinking / that the me/we I trust is always at fault." Yaeji doesn't beat around the bush here—her lyrics are purposefully explicit and her flow on "Fever" lends it a particularly assertive edge.
The nuances of Yaeji's journey come out in the lighter moments. "Passed Me By" opens with lyrics that feel frank and confessional: "Today has been a little weak / A little strong / I light a little fire," as she cuts herself some slack. The track's smoky atmosphere mirrors how feelings like anger can trap the mind in a haze. By contrast, the dreamlike "1 Thing To Smash," with Loraine James, is about making room for others. She talks about literally smashing her friends' troubles up on their behalf, which also speaks to one of the main reasons Yaeji dug into her trauma in the first place—to make herself more emotionally available. As both Yaeji's and James's voices fade in and out of focus, our ears can't hold on to either.
With A Hammer gives listeners an uncut tour through Yaeji's personal development, complete with all its highs and lows. Despite some of the grittier feelings and lyrics, by the end the mood is hopeful. As she goes deeper into herself and becomes more in tune with her feelings, her lyrics have naturally become grounded and relatable. Even in this new stylistic territory, Yaeji is able to invite listeners into her world just like before, letting them feel comfortable and creating the space to lay down some home truths. Armed with this stronger emotional awareness—and her trusty hammer—it feels like nothing can stop her.
Tracklist01. Submerge FM
02. For Granted
03. Fever
04. Passed Me By
05. With A Hammer
06. I'll Remember For Me, I'll Remember For You
07. Done (Let's Get It)
08. Ready Or Not feat. K Wata
09. Michin feat. Enayet
10. Away x5
11. Happy feat. Nourished By Time
12. 1 Thing To Smash feat. Loraine James
13. Be Alone In This