SO I RISE is the third studio album by South Korean singer-songwriter Kaerom. It was released on November 23, 2025.
Background[]
Kaerom first talked abut this album during a September 2025 Instagram live:
"My next release has a completely different energy to my previous works. It's darker, cruder, less inhibited. With my previous works, even if I got a lot of artistic freedom, I was still having to comply to certain norms, but my next album will be released under my own label, therefore the only rules I have to follow are the ones I come up with."
In the same live he also said he'd been experimenting with rock and it's derivatives, citing Evanescense as his main inspiration, but also specific releases like (G)I-dle's I NEVER DIE or Avril Lavigne's Head Above Water.
He announced the album on October 01 but didn't confirm an official release date. However, to celebrate the start of a new era, h released the MV for I MISSPELLED MY NAME ONCE, in which he was running through a never-ending hallway. He later revealed the song wasn't included in the album's tracklist, but it would be added as a bonus track on the physical version of the album. A month after, on November 01, a lyric video for Hyperbole was released with various images of Kaerom spending time at an appiculture farm. During the bridge of the song, he holds up a sign that reads "SO I RISE, OUT NOVEMBER 22". On said date the album was released, and so was the MV for The Bakery, in which he bakes a giant cake inside of a soundproof glass dome while people on the outside protest about it.
Kaerom announced his first ever tour on December 12. The 'RISE ABOVE' Tour would be taking place between April and August of 2026, the first leg would be covering North America, Australia and Europe and the second leg would focus only on Asia. He also announced that Solo Win would get a special MV after, featuring footage of various tour dates. This MV would mark the end of the SO I RISE era.
Composition[]
SO I RISE is a nine-track-album that explores Rock and it's sub-genres such as Alternative, Indie, Folk and Soft Rock, while also incorporating aspects of Metal, Jazz, and R&B. Every single song was producer in it's entirety by Kaerom alone.
Title[]
Based on his explanation, the title is the best way Kaerom found to describe the whole project. SO I RISE was made during a weird period of time for him: he was going through some of the hardest times of his life while also experiencing things he'd been working towards for a long time, like his rise to international popularity and the founding of his own label.
"Even if my life was in shambles during the first half of 2025, there were certain things happening that helped me stay afloat and keep my head up. I couldn't give up, I had to rise above the hardships, and so I did." Kaerom's interview for 'All About Music' Magazine
Songs[]
The album opens with "Overachiever", a post-punk song which delves into how Kaerom constantly feels the need to put others as a priority over his own emotions, which ends up being what drives people away from him. He talks about how overwhelmed some people can feel when you're always trying to please them. The second track, "Your Side of the World (and Mine)", is a synth-wave influenced dark rock ballad. In this song Kaerom expresses how hurt he felt after someone he had a connection with decided to cut him off out of nowhere. As the songs opening line implies ("You took a piece of my soul and I couldn't even ask for it back") he has not been able to get back in touch with the person the song is about. Leaving his personal experiences aside for the third track, Kaerom talks about the current political state of the world, and how jarring it is to know every country is trying to follow on the USA's steps even though the system clearly isn't working for the overall population. With heavy nu metal influence, "...Or So Simon Says" is the heavier sounding track in the album. Following this is the most radio-friendly track in the album, which can be categorized as a dark pop-rock song. In "The Bakery" Kaerom talks about how freeing it feels to be able to create art on his own accord and not have someone supervising his process or product. This is showcased in the MV, which shows people complaining about the way he acts although he's unable to hear them from the inside of the dome.
"Not My Best Work" continues the record. It's fusion rock production with jazz tints evoque a sense of confusion that ties to the song's theme. Kaerom addresses his constant feeling of failure regarding his music, and how he doesn't see any of his songs as good. The chorus finishes with the line "I can't do worse if I've never done good enough", which he has said is a good way to sum up the whole record. The sixth track is "Hyperbole", an R&B song with heavy electric guitar influence about how a single bee is simple and small, but the existence of said animal and their way of life is a fascinating concept. The title is a reference to how crazy it feels to know all bees in a colony work in favor of a single objective with no complains. "Solo Win" is a industrial rock track about how, even if he's grateful to everyone who helped along the way, he is aware that the main reason for his success is his own hard work.
The penultimate song of the record is a dark disco song, which heavily stands out from the rest. "The Hare Wins the Race" is a reference to Simis' second full album, and how he was constantly told that "the members are successful because they're on the group", but now that he's a soloist he's become even bigger than the group ever was. He's said that the genre switch for the track was intentional since, just like the song, he always felt like the odd one out of the group. The last track of the album is "Sunburn", an indie rock, vocal focused ballad about how Kaerom isn't able to trust things that seem luminous and joyful, because he knows that "the brighter the sun shines, the longer it's burn stays".
The physical version of the record includes two bonus tracks: "I MISPELLED MY NAME ONCE", an indie folk song in which Kaerom does a parallelism between his failed attempt at changing his stage name and Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's hypocritical approach towards writing The Little Prince, and a folk-rock version of it called "RISE Ver.", which fits the album's sound better than the original.
Critical reception[]
SO I RISE was highly praised due to it's intricate usage of rock and the way it mixes elements from adjacent genres. The inclusion of purposefully disjointed production for some of the songs was a big point of interest for most critics, who saw this as a brave way of making certain songs stand out which would've otherwise faded into the mix. The length of the songs was also a highlight, considering how rare it is for modern albums to feature no songs under the 3-minute mark.
"Even though at certain points the album does feel —for the lack of a better word— gnarly, it manages to get it's point across and every song properly communicates what it wants too. As for the reversion of I MISSPELLED MY NAME ONCE, it's interesting that Kaerom decided not to include both versions in the album since both versions blend well with it". Beats Per Minute
"The album feels very experimental and it's clear that this is Kaerom's first time handling these genres, however it is very relevant in the context of Korean music, and idols especially, since it explores genres the K-pop industry almost never —if at all— goes for." Idology
The album received a mean score of 82 on Metacritic.
Tracklist[]
| Song | Producer | Lyricist | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overachiever | Kaerom | Kaerom | 03:42 |
| Your Side of the World (and Mine) | Kaerom | Kaerom | 03:14 |
| ...Or So Simon Says | Kaerom | Kaerom | 04:18 |
| The Bakery | Kaerom | Kaerom | 03:37 |
| Not My Best Work | Kaerom | Kaerom | 03:14 |
| Hyperbole | Kaerom | Kaerom | 03:26 |
| Solo Win | Kaerom | Kaerom | 04:09 |
| The Hare Wins the Race | Kaerom | Kaerom | 03:45 |
| Sunburn | Kaerom | Kaerom | 04:12 |
| Total length: | 33:37 | ||
| CD, vinyl and cassette exclusive | |||
| I MISSPELLED MY NAME ONCE | Kaerom | Kaerom | 04:22 |
| I MISSPELLED MY NAME ONCE (RISE Ver.) | Kaerom | Kaerom | 04:22 |
| Total length: | 42:21 | ||