Apparently there has been some stir in the world of K-pop because of new singer U and the teaser for the music video of her song 울컥. It seems this U is supposed to be a “faceless” singer, but a Popseoul writer has reached the conclusion that U is in fact May.
May made quite the anonymous debut with a couple of songs featured in the Banjun dramas back in 2004, starting with 기적 which was soon followed by 리디아 – a beautiful cover of Taiwanese pop/rock band F.I.R‘s Lydia. (The latter usually seen credited to Jang Nara when discussed in forums at the time.) In 2006 she finally released her first EP, Wonderland, in Korea and also started her career in Japan with a bunch of singles. Seems her label thought she did better in Japan than in Korea as Korea only got another EP, Smile, whereas Japan got a full album called a Little Happiness in 2007. Looking at maniadb, it seems she tried to revive her Korean career with a release of digital single 못된 나 (including 기적 as a B-side) a year ago, but evidently it didn’t accomplish much.
Personally I have something of a soft spot for May, whose music I’d put in the same guitar pop/rock category of music as Japan’s YUI. Now I haven’t heard enough of U myself, but I do hope there is some truth to this rumor and that (if so) May will be able to reach a wider audience under this new name. Check out the video for Lydia here.