Leenalchi is a seven-piece band from Seoul that draws on the folk storytelling tradition of pansori, and will remind you of the Talking Heads.

Their line-up is as singular as their sound – featuring two bassists, drums, keys, no guitar, and four
singers. The band’s creator and visionary, bassist Young-Gyu Jang, is also behind several beloved horror soundtracks (e.g. The Wailing, Train to Busan), and the now-disbanded iconic art band SsingSsing, which Tiny Desk's Bob Boilen described as "one of my most memorable Tiny Desk Concerts of all time."

In 2026, the band will announce their first ever release outside Korea, beginning with the EP “Here Comes That Crow” in June and then the LP “Sugungga” in October on Luaka Bop, the New York record label founded by David Byrne.

Leenalchi was formed by Young-Gyu Jang 장영규, an award-winning Korean composer
who works across a wide range of artistic fields, including music, films and TV, visual art, dance and theater, as well as creating sound design for museums and art exhibits.

Since 2000, Mr. Jang has scored some of Korea's most celebrated films, such as Sympathy for
Mr. Vengeance (2002), A Bittersweet Life (2005), The Wailing (2016), and Train to
Busan (2016). With Leenalchi, he also helped write their theme song for the finale of Apple TV’s
Pachinko (2021), and scored campaigns for Green Peace, Gucci and Visit Korea, the latter
of which has garnered more than 50M views online. For his work in cinema, he has been recognized

both inside and outside of Korea, seeing him win several international awards.

In dance, one of Mr. Jang’s early collaborations was with Pina Bausch’s Tanztheater Wuppertal,
Rough Cut, in 2005. Most recently, he worked with renowned choreographer Eun-Me Ahn on her
touring pieces, North Korea Dance (2025), Dragons (2025), and Post-Orientalist Express (2026).
Mr. Jang has been involved in a multitude of bands and musical projects since middle school, where
his experimental musical style has attracted worldwide attention. An NPR Tiny Desk concert of one
of his former bands, Ssing Ssing, racked up 9.7 million views on YouTube, and created its own form of
filmed tiny desks concerts back in Korea. Ssing Ssing, formed in 2010, was both musically, as well as
visually striking. Performances featured elaborate costumes, and like with Leenalchi, a sound that
blended western influences with Korean traditional music. Be-being, an even earlier project, also included elements of Buddhist musical tradition.