Song Review:: Lee Chanwon: 찬란(燦爛)- 오늘은 왠지 (Maybe Today)

• Release date: 2025 October 20

• Album tracklist: 오늘은 왠지, 낙엽처럼 떨어진 너와 나, 말했잖아, 첫사랑, 엄마의 봄날, 시월의 시, 나의 오랜 여행,나를 떠나지 마요, 락앤롤 별, 오늘은 왠지 (Inst.), 낙엽처럼 떨어진 너와 나 (Inst.)

• Album runtime: 27 minutes

 Congrats on the win! I wasn’t expecting this only because I know nothing about you, sir. And also, happy birthday to you, considering your birthday was a couple of days before this. So, for those of you who, like me, didn’t know who this fellow was, he’s a trot singer, which is something that instantly piques my interest because I’ve decided I really like trot music. He’s three weeks older than Woozi. He debuted as a soloist in 2021. He’s got a fandom color, which I love. And I need everyone to look up his light stick because that’s one of the coolest ones I’ve seen yet. That’s awesome. And this song got him his fifth music show win. For the record, there’s enough time for a whole extra song to be included and still have an average of more than three minutes.

A harmonica and strings. I don’t think you understand how much joy this brings me. I’m going to ignore the vocals for a second as much as I want to cry happy tears over them. Mostly because I also just realized that the instrumental is included in the album. Y’all if I didn’t know this was Korean, I’d think I was listening to 80s or 90s country. George Strait, Allen Jackson, Clint Black. From their era of country music. There’s actually a song by George Strait called “Carrying Your Love With Me” (there’s another one called “All My Exes Live in Texas” that has a very similar sound to the instrumental, but topically, I’m going to guess that Maybe Today is a much happier love song) and this could be a cousin song to that. Between the guitar and the harmonica, I’m in heaven. It’s evening sun warmth on your face, windswept grasses in late summer. I’m going to guess that there isn’t a fiddle included in the instrument list, but I’d be willing to bet that one of the strings is a violin.

His vibrato. I want to talk about that first and foremost because I’m so much in love. Like, I think I have found Korean country music, and Lee Chanwon sounds like he might have the equivalent of a twang, and I am so tickled pink by this whole situation that I’m using run-on sentences and I really couldn’t care less. I want to roll in his voice. I’m going to be digging into his entire discography to see if this is a one-off for the album, or if this is what he sings normally because I need this. Also, and this is related to lyrics, I went over to look at the writing credits and I found a name that fills me with utter glee: Roy Kim. Roy Kim was the lyricist for this song. I am…I am effervescent over this discovery. I am effulgent with joy. Okay. In an effort to stop straight up just fangirling over this man who I just discovered existed, let me talk about specifics. His tone is lovely, strong, and rich. We’ve got an excellent range of both dynamics and pitch, as well as some gorgeous runs. There’s so much vocal movement happening in this song. I honestly want to cry a little bit over how amazing this is. I’m so happy right now, but I need to stop or I will continue babbling.

I do recommend the entire album as well. This song was not a one-off for his voice. If this was The Voice, I’d be slamming that button so hard and fast, and repeatedly.

This is the fluffiest music video I've seen in a while, and it's a full K-Drama. It's so cute. (And Lee Chanwon is adorable). Using the barcode scanner as a microphone? A meet-cute in a grocery store? I love this so much.