For Your Ears Only
MEN'S FOLIO Malaysia|December 2024 - January 2025
Colde (the stage name of Kim Hee-soo) made his long-awaited English debut earlier this year with YIN. If the name Colde does not immediately ring a bell, a quick search of his viral tracks should trigger recognition - his signature blend of soulful vocals and emotionally charged melodies will no doubt click into place and leave a lasting impression.
Vanessa Grace Ng
For Your Ears Only

There are songs that are capable of tugging at all the right heartstrings. Such songs dredge up recessed memories, reimagining them in a sheen of nostalgia so rich they have to be looked at — or rather, listened to — over and over again.

To any new listener of Colde, this is the magnetism of his artistry. Success and recognition have been a long time coming for the 30-yearold South Korean singer-songwriter.

With nearly a decade of music behind him, Colde’s discography maintains a surprising timelessness, as if it were created to accompany life’s pivotal moments.

These backtracks to life’s events are apt, transcending time and circumstance to resonate with listeners, regardless of whether his lyricism can be understood or not. This might be best explained in the melodies that are permeated with poignancy. It is in the soulful croon of Colde’s vocals and the slight texture in instrumentation where a transcendental effect, allusory to a familiar experience, occurs.

Colde’s music is rich with the power of connection and it shows in volumes. His 2019 Korean hit, “WAR-R-R”, for instance, was accompanied by a rapturous word-for-word sing-along from the audience during a recent visit to Singapore. But beyond the emotional pull of his songs, there is an ethereal ability to command an audience marked by its diversity.

His Asia tour, BLUEPRINT, a first for the artiste, offered the opportunity to put this to the test — to move a crowd of varied ages, backgrounds and life experiences just by the universal language of sound. In a candid conversation with Men’s Folio, Colde reflects on his journey to virality, his evolving identity as a performer, and what it feels like to finally tour Asia for the first time.

WELCOME TO SINGAPORE.

This story is from the December 2024 - January 2025 edition of MEN'S FOLIO Malaysia.

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This story is from the December 2024 - January 2025 edition of MEN'S FOLIO Malaysia.

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