TUNES // The Hidden Shelf – Defeatist

Post by Misha

it’s cool how after all this time, there are still a few things about me that are a mystery, even to myself. like how there’s this mundane email from 18 months ago that i still think about responding to sometimes. it’s not an especially difficult email. just a person i kind of know. and there was no reason not to reply when i received the email. it wasn’t uncomfortable, or annoying. i just didn’t do it.

and then two weeks later i still didn’t do it. i sat next to myself on the couch and said, hey. why are you watching bojack horseman instead of answering that email? i woke up next to myself and said, hey. i bet you didn’t answer that email yesterday when i told you to did you? you think that person noticed and thinks you’re a turd now? i mean, probably, right?

i hovered over myself at the office. well, don’t write it now, turd. they probably don’t even remember. if you respond now it’s just going to draw attention to what a huge turd you are. like a highlighter, but for turds.

and then the next day, on the couch, watching bojack horseman again: you still didn’t respond to that fucking email did you. turd.

The Hidden Shelf is the solo project of Minji Kong. She explains,

“The reason behind the name is because I have yet to share my work so far with most of my close friends. I don’t care if they manage to find them at one point, but when they do, I hope for the experience to feel like they’ve found, at the least, an okay book or an artwork or what have you from a “hidden shelf” in a corner.”

It’s a touching, relatable, and sort of sad sentiment, especially given how lovely the music is. Kong’s 3 song EP, Cut It Short A Year Ago, is an underwater meander. An adventure in surrender. Kong’s voice often blurs into the muddy, saturated guitar, and there’s something about the soft, sleepless persistence of Defeatist that says, “it’s ok to let it slide this time.”

Buy Cut It Short A Year Ago here.