[Herald Interview] Jane Jang eager to dive back into the limelight with ‘Liquid’

Singer-songwriter Jane Jang spent three years away from the public eye fighting a creeping paralysis resulting from a neurological condition called dystonia.

Although it must have been a difficult period for the 24-year-old singer-songwriter, Jang did not let any negativity break her bubbly mood as she spoke with The Korea Herald at a cafe in Seoul on June 17.

“The past three years? I had a great time,” she said. “I got to hang out with friends, enjoy the small everyday things.”

“Still, I feel relaxed only now that my album’s out,” she added firmly. “I’m ready to perform. I’m pumped up.”

Jang’s third EP “Liquid” was released on June 11. Jang wrote the lyrics to all six tracks.

“The one thing I thought most often while I was taking a break was that I had to follow the flow of my emotions, wherever it may go. After I wrote my songs, that ‘flow’ seemed to be the single common theme. So I decided to call my album ‘Liquid,’” Jang said.

According to Jang, the title is an abbreviation of “Liquid Love,” or “Amor Liquido,” the title of a book that briefly appears in the music video for her title track “Eat.”

For the first time, she did not compose any of the songs or play the guitar herself, partly because her paralysis made it difficult for her to play.

“It was actually kind of nice,” she said. “I was able to focus on my singing and lyrics. I especially paid attention to the storyline within each song for this album. I think these lyrics are much better-written than my previous songs.”

Jang said that in her lyrics, she was influenced by overseas artists such as Joni Mitchell and Fiona Apple. 



“When I’m trying to take on a more open perspective, I listen to Carla Bruni or Jane Birkin. They have an amazingly free outlook on love, and that was the approach I tried to take with ‘Eat,’” she said. “It fit well with the music, because (producer Yoon Jong-shin) produced it in a French rock style.”

The lyrics to her song “Eat” had caused some stir online due to their sexual undertones, but Jang says she feels comfortable with this.

“Over the past two years, a lot of people have told me that I seem more feminine, or sexy, or grown-up. I think it’s a very natural change and if that’s where I am right now, I think there’s nothing wrong with showing it,” she said.

“In my title track, you have to look at the lyrics carefully to catch those sexy nuances. At first, it sounds just like a song about eating. But there’s a lot more to it, and that’s what I find fun and interesting.”

Jang said that she hoped the album would signal the start of a new chapter for her.

“I hope the takeaway will be that Jane Jang has grown up emotionally as a woman, and that she’s back for a lot of performances. Also, I hope listeners will enjoy this as a very well-made EP from Mystic Entertainment. It was truly a team effort.”

By Won Ho-jung (hjwon@heraldcorp.com)