▲ Cover of Cheer Up. Provided by catmusic.co.kr

“Cheer up even when you are tired, when your head hurts, just get through today. Cheer up no matter how difficult things are, even if your eyes tear up and fog up, never give up.” Listening to these mellow tunes and tooth-achingly sweet lyrics from Cheer Up (2015), Coffee Boy’s third regular album, will help you get through difficult days. 

Coffee Boy’s Cheer Up is his third full-length album and is stocked full with brighten your day songs. Following Coffee Boy’s first full-length album Waiting (2012), on which he sang about waiting for the love of his life and his sophomore full-length album Born a Man (2013) which was about a man who decided to become stronger in order to protect the love of his life, Coffee Boy has returned with his third album, Cheer Up. 

Let’s take a listen to the tracks on the album. The first track is very appropriately titled, “Morning Vitamin (Acoustic ver.),” and like its name, the song has a bright, fruity tone to it. The song is like a pleasant jolt of electricity; it gets listeners up and running for their day. It would be a good tune for early morning commutes or early school days. 

One of the most hummable tracks on the album is “Spell of Happiness,” the fourth track on this album. This track is relatively well known for being the theme song of Korean Broadcasting System (KBS) Cool FM Radio’s show, “Let’s Raise the Volume with Yoo In-na.” The first part of this song sounds as though Coffee Boy is putting a magical spell on his listeners. Feeling like it is going to take a miracle to get through a particularly hellish week? Then this song is for you.

Another track The Granite Tower (GT) readers should not miss out on is “Darimi (Iron).” “Darimi (Iron)” is one of the wittiest songs on this track. The lyrics are about ironing a crumpled heart. The female vocalist sadly sings, “Darimi, darimi, my heart has been rumpled, worn out, ripped apart, it used to be strong but now it’s all ripped.” One cannot help but identify with the image of ironing a rumpled heart that has been hurt by life. This song will resonate with people who have gone through a time when they were desperate for their own iron to smooth out the rumples in their hearts. 

Overall, for those who are suffering from low self-esteem, those commuting their dreadful way to work, those trudging on their way home from work, those working long extra hours, those studying hard to realize their dreams, those suffering from intermittent blues that blindside them without warning, from empty bank accounts, from going hungry to bed because they’re on a diet, and last but not least those 20-somethings suffering from the daily grind, this album should be their perfect go to refuge.