MUSIC MATCH: If You Like Lauv, You’ll Love This Korean Indie Artist
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Same Feeling, Different Language
Lauv makes music about the specific emotions that come with liking someone, losing someone, and sitting alone with all of it. His songs are warm, direct, and built for headphones. If that is the kind of music you reach for, there is a Korean artist named george who works in the same space. Same emotional territory, different language, different city. Four song pairs that land in the same place.
Pair 1 — The Feeling of Just Being With Someone
Lauv — "I Like Me Better" (2017)
george — "let's go picnic" (2019)
"I Like Me Better" is about that early stage of liking someone when you feel lighter just by being around them. Lauv does not describe grand romance. He describes the simple, quiet feeling of becoming a better version of himself near someone he loves. "let's go picnic" works the same way. george sings about standing behind someone in a park, breathing the same air, arms full holding them while the sun moves across the sky, thinking that time has stopped. Neither song needs a dramatic moment. Both just need the other person to be there. Warm production, soft melodies, the feeling of a good afternoon that you do not want to end.
Pair 2 — Wherever You Are Is Enough
Lauv — "Paris in the Rain" (2018)
george — "Boat" (2017)
"Paris in the Rain" is Lauv at his most quietly romantic. He does not need Paris to be perfect. He just needs that person next to him. The city, the weather, the circumstances do not matter. "Boat" carries the same logic. george sings about drifting on a boat with someone, going nowhere in particular, and that being exactly enough. Both songs are built around the idea that location is irrelevant when the right person is there. Easygoing production, gentle melodies, the specific contentment of not needing anything else.
Pair 3 — Wanting to Reach Someone You Cannot Quite Touch
Lauv — "Modern Loneliness" (2020)
george — "Swimming Pool" (2018)
"Modern Loneliness" is one of Lauv's quietest songs. He describes having hundreds of connections and still feeling completely alone, checking in on people and never quite getting through. "Swimming Pool" sits in the same late-night mood. george checks his email repeatedly, waiting for a message from someone whose folder stays empty. The connection he wants is right there and completely out of reach. Both songs are slow, open, and honest about the particular loneliness of wanting someone who does not come. Apple Music named "Swimming Pool" one of the best songs of 2018, recognizing george internationally before he had broken through in Korea. If you have ever stayed up waiting for a message that did not come, both songs will feel familiar.
Pair 4 — Missing Someone and Wanting Them to Notice
Lauv — "All 4 Nothing (I'm So In Love)" (2022)
george — "바라봐줘요 (Look at Me)" (2019)
"All 4 Nothing" is Lauv being direct about giving everything to someone and getting nothing back, but still being completely in love and unable to walk away. "바라봐줘요" translates to "please look at me." george asks to be seen by someone who has drifted away, thinking about them again and again, wondering if they will ever come back. Both songs are about the imbalance of loving someone more than they love you back. Lauv leans into the pop energy of it. george keeps his version quieter, softer, with an 80s and 90s production warmth that makes the longing feel even more specific. Both songs sit with the feeling rather than trying to resolve it.
Where to Start With george
If you are new to george, "let's go picnic" is the warmest entry point and the easiest listen coming from Lauv's catalogue. "Swimming Pool" is where his international reputation started. His 2018 EP "cassette" was nominated for the Korean Music Awards and shows the full range of his sound. His 2023 debut full-length album "FRR" is where he arrived after seven years of singles and EPs, and is worth listening to front to back.