The Korean military enlistment pipeline has been a busy one as of late, and soloist Woodz (aka Cho Seungyoun) is the latest in an ever-growing flock of male idols to announce their enlistment in the past few months. Before he goes on hiatus this January, he gifted his fans with one more single and MV to tide them over, titled “Amnesia.”
Very much an extension of his latest album OO-LI, “Amnesia” is a powerful grunge-rock track that also sees Woodz leaning further into the rock aesthetic and sound than he ever has before. The track starts as a quiet ballad, but quickly evolves into a billowing alt-rock anthem of pure emotion. Between Woodz’s melodic cries throughout the chorus (“Amensia/Going far away/Something’s wrong”) and the echoing weep of the electric guitar that follows, “Amnesia” quite literally sounds like a purging of a flood of painful memories Woodz aims to suppress per the track’s lyrics:
Everything is covered
I turn my back from the twisted knot
Over and over, it might be my habit
The memory from yesterday has gone
The MV plays this out as a haunting visual spectacle, presenting “Amnesia” in an even more chilling light. For one, its overall visual aesthetic is dark, grungy, and haunting. The MV begins with a series of “A”’s (representative of the song’s title) in various fonts atop a series of unintelligible, horror film-like backdrops. The MV then settles on a long black-haired Woodz in a grimy old bathtub, accompanied by a teal-black tint that colors most of the rest of the video.
The shots of a distressed Woodz in the bathtub are met by even creepier images in between. Many, like the introductory title cards featuring the “A,” are cryptic and unclear, while others are crisp as can be, including visuals of blood running behind the strings of a guitar and a metal protractor laying on top of a collection of acid-fried papers. When the macabre of these images become too much to handle (as they do for Woodz himself within the MV), the MV cuts to Woodz and his band performing the track in a darkened but noticeably more color-filled room. On one hand, this alleviates the intensity brought by these “filler” shots and scenes, and on the other hand holds viewers in suspense to increase the apprehension as to where the MV could be headed next.
As these eerie b-roll shots of sharp objects and indiscernible backdrops — a manifestation of Woodz’s suppressed memories — proliferate, Woodz’s physical reaction to the bubbling up of his suppressed memories becomes more physical, heightening the intensity of the MV. Naturally, this also coincides with the first chorus, in which his singing practically transforms into emotive cries. He thrashes around in the bathtub’s murky water, then leaves his post only to slump to the bathroom floor with his head in his hands. Even after all this commotion, Woodz still appears lifeless and drained, suggesting that the resurfacing of his bad memories won’t propel him into action, but rather further into numbness and dispair.
Following the first chorus, the MV takes an interesting turn. Suddenly, more life is breathed into the visuals as the extraneous b-roll and in-between shots become more vibrant and colorful. Graphically, they’re still indiscernible as far as what they’re supposed to be of, but the starker contrast and vividness within them suggests that his memories are only becoming clearer and closer to the forefront of his mind, only to haunt him more.
That haunting reaches a turning point in the MV’s story and visual aesthetic when a tall, blond woman with a menacing gait meets Woodz over the bathtub, submerging him under the water with her presence alone. Her appearance serves as a symbol of Woodz’s no-longer murky memories, as she was very likely the subject of said memories he sings of attempting to forget. Her arrival seems to torture Woodz even more, launching his emotions and the MV itself into full-blown chaos just as the song itself erupts into its final chorus and electrifying guitar solo.
Here, the MV leans less into the eeriness on full display at its slower beginning, instead opting for a steady swath of tumultuous scenes and and imagery to reflect Woodz’s chaotic state of mind. Instead of the slower build-up from before, quick cuts of the amorphous b-roll images previously flashed throughout the MV are rapidly sliced between shots of Woodz cathartically performing the song alongside the band and scenes of the mystical woman who haunts his memories plunging Woodz into further mystery — both emotional and physical.
At the end of the MV, Woodz finds himself face to face with the woman. Her body is floating slightly above his, with her head turned down toward his so that their faces are nearly touching. It’s hard to tell whether they’re about to kiss or simply morph into one being (the choice to cast the woman as someone who looks eerily similar to Woodz, and with the same hairstyle and color as he flaunts on his OO-LI album cover feels all too purposeful). The decision to leave that shot as the final scene before cutting back to Woodz performing the final notes of the song, followed by a series of “A”’s as in the intro, only adds to the overarching aura of apprehension and unease that coats the entire MV. As with the rest of “Amnesia” the dark and distressing elements continue to evolve from their original nature at the start, or even a few scenes from the last, to continuously hold viewers in suspense and keep them on their toes.
Although we’ll have to wait some time for Woodz to make his return, it’s fitting that he also leaves us with one of his most grand and cinematic MVs to date before his departure. While Woodz himself seeks to forget and suppress the bone-chilling memories that brought him to “Amnesia,” we can only hope that we’ll never forget its delightfully dark mystique.
(YouTube. Lyrics via Genius. Images via EDAM Entertainment.)
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