Minhwi Lee explores the concept of home in new album performance

Minhwi Lee performed seven tracks from the second album "Future Hometown" on EBS 1TV's "EBS Space," discussing the gap between ideal and real hometowns through songs like "Blue Flower" and "Homecoming."

A hometown is more than just a place of birth; it is a place we long to return to and a place that can accept us. However, the process of heading there is not always romantic or beautiful. This is the point where the questions posed by Minhwi Lee through the second album "Future Hometown" begin.

The performance by Minhwi Lee, released through EBS 1TV's "EBS Space," was centered around seven tracks from the second album "Future Hometown." During this stage, Minhwi Lee personally explained the meanings of the songs, touching upon the gap between a hometown as an ideal and a real hometown, as well as the possibility of creating a new home.

Longing for an ideal, betrayal, and the process of growth

"Blue Flower," which opens the album, deals with the hometown people envision, the journey toward it, and the difference between reality and the ideal. The following track, "Homecoming," depicts the desire to return to a hometown envisioned as an ideal and how that desire can be betrayed.

Reflections on the act of leaving home continue with "Mother's Mother." Minhwi Lee explained that if leaving one's birthplace is a process of growth, then realizing that the hometown one intends to return to no longer exists is the journey that concludes a life. This suggests that the space of a hometown transcends a physical location and is intertwined with the life cycle.

Loneliness in dreams and the station of unceasing hope

The composition of the songs sometimes contains dreamy and philosophical contemplations. "Reformatory" began with the sentence, "A person without a name is not lonely," which was heard in a dream one day. While it felt true upon waking from the dream, the song contains the paradox that a place where such people live does not actually exist.

In contrast, "Station" highlights people who head somewhere without stopping. It presents the perspective that the act of continuing toward somewhere while maintaining hope until death is beautiful in itself. "Future Hometown," which serves as the album's title track, points out that the process of creating a home is by no means solely beautiful, and instead deals with the very will to return.

A story of our generation starting from "No Continent"

Finally, "No Continent" is a song that began from a character named Sang-su's "No Continent" and contains a story about the current generation. Minhwi Lee shared the sentiment of the song, stating, "I liked the word 'hello,' so I called it out several times."

The stage featured Minhwi Lee on vocals and keyboards, accompanied by Sagong, Kim Ha-ram (guitar), Ji Yun-hae (bass), and Son Gyeong-ho (drums). Additionally, Kim Bu-min (clarinet/flute/saxophone), Lee Hui-myeong, Kim Ji-seong (violin), Lee Sin-gyu (viola), and Bae Seong-woo (cello) joined to realize a rich sound.

Source: original video (YouTube)