SUDI Releases New Album on Unforgettable First Love

Korean singer-songwriter SUDI has released lyric videos for both lead singles from a new mini-album, 첫사랑의 계절 (The Season of First Love), through Stone Music Entertainment. The dual release — "고래와 나비 (Whale and Butterfly)" featuring vocalist RIPLEY, and the title track "첫사랑의 계절 (The Season of First Love)" featuring 이범준 (Lee Bum Jun) and HWARANG — arrived simultaneously on April 12, a deliberate move that positions both songs as equal pillars of the same emotional world.

The album’s guiding concept is stated simply but powerfully in its description: "지워지지 않는 첫사랑의 기억과, 닿을 수 없는 존재를 향한 그리움" — memories of first love that can never be erased, and a longing for someone forever out of reach. That premise alone signals what kind of record this is: intimate, reflective, and designed to linger.

Stone Music Entertainment, the Seoul-based label and distributor behind the release, is known for hosting an eclectic roster of ballad and indie artists. The label’s YouTube channel, @stonemusicent, published both lyric videos on the same upload date, giving the release broad visibility across the platform’s recommendation algorithms and reaching K-indie fans internationally.

Two Songs, One Emotional Universe

The album’s emotional range is carried by two very different but complementary tracks. "고래와 나비 (Whale and Butterfly)" opens the record with imagery rooted in contrast. A whale and a butterfly — two creatures separated by entirely different realms — suggest love across an impossible divide, a connection that exists only in memory rather than reality. RIPLEY’s vocals thread through the arrangement with a delicate, searching quality that mirrors the song’s central tension: wanting to hold onto something that was never quite within reach.

"첫사랑의 계절 (The Season of First Love)," the title track, shifts the emotional register toward collective nostalgia. The word "계절" — season — carries particular weight in Korean pop culture, where seasons function as metaphors for irreversible chapters of life. Sung by 이범준 and HWARANG, who also co-wrote the lyrics, the track builds from a sparse piano opening into a fuller arrangement of layered vocals, live guitar by 박성범 (Park Sung-beom), and a warm, studio-polished mix handled by engineer 황동찬 of Seoularchive. A sped-up version of the title track is included on the album as well, acknowledging how contemporary Korean music listeners have embraced alternate tempos as a way to experience the same song from a new emotional vantage point.

Together, the two songs form a cohesive narrative arc: the first explores the impossibility of connection; the second examines what stays behind when that connection has passed. Releasing both on the same day, rather than staggering them for maximum individual attention, was a clear artistic choice — one that prioritizes the album’s unity over the marketing value of a phased rollout.

SUDI as Producer, Songwriter, and Instrumentalist

What separates this release from the typical K-indie single package is the depth of SUDI’s creative involvement across every layer of the production. SUDI served as executive producer and album director, but the credits reveal a much more hands-on role. On "고래와 나비," SUDI composed the track alongside Admin.S and RIPLEY, arranged the music with Admin.S, played piano, programmed drums, and operated synthesizers. On the title track, SUDI co-composed and co-arranged the music alongside Ae.L, again handling piano, drums, and synthesizers personally.

This level of multi-instrumental engagement is rare in the modern Korean music landscape, where production is frequently handled by specialist teams. For SUDI, the approach reflects a philosophy of artistic ownership: every sonic decision — from the texture of a synth pad to the velocity of a drum hit — is the direct expression of the artist’s intent rather than the result of committee production.

The album’s five tracks — two vocal lead singles, a sped-up version of the title track, and instrumentals of both songs — also reinforce this idea. Instrumentals are not afterthoughts here. By stripping away the vocals and presenting the bare musical architecture, SUDI invites listeners into the compositional logic of each piece, trusting the arrangements to hold emotional weight on their own.

Collaborators Who Elevate the Vision

SUDI’s approach to collaboration is equally deliberate. Each featured artist and co-creator brings a specific quality that enhances rather than overshadows the album’s core identity.

RIPLEY, the vocalist on "고래와 나비," contributed not only to the recording but also to the song’s composition. Her voice is the sonic anchor of the track — clear, emotive, and unhurried — and her creative input in writing the song ensures that the performance and the material are fully integrated. Admin.S, whose engineering credits span both tracks, gave the album its sonic consistency, mixing and mastering the majority of the project with a touch that favors warmth and space over compression and brightness.

For the title track, the collaboration with 이범준 and HWARANG as both vocalists and lyricists gives "첫사랑의 계절" a lived-in quality that purely composed lyrics rarely achieve. When performers write the words they sing, the emotional specificity tends to show — and on this track, the detail in both the melody and the lyrical phrasing suggests a genuine personal investment in the song’s subject matter.

황동찬 of Seoularchive, who mixed and mastered "첫사랑의 계절" and its instrumental, rounds out the collaborator list. Seoularchive has become a recognizable credit in Korean indie and ballad production, associated with transparent, high-quality audio work that suits acoustic-forward arrangements.

Both lyric videos are now available on Stone Music Entertainment’s official YouTube channel. The full five-track album is available across major streaming platforms. For listeners seeking Korean music that rewards patient, repeated listening, SUDI’s 첫사랑의 계절 is an early 2026 release worth returning to.