“People don’t like to admit it, but country music has really good storytelling,” Eric Nam tells Consequence over Zoom. He’s rattling off the names that dominated country radio in the late ‘90s and early 2000s, animatedly gushing over Faith Hill, Tim McGraw, Keith Urban, and Rascal Flatts. The Georgia boy jumped out.
Eric Nam was raised in Atlanta long before he became the international crossover artist he is today, beloved in both Korea and America. His upcoming album, There And Back Again, seems to be a homecoming of sorts — the music video for the lead single, “I Don’t Know You Anymore,” (out today, October 15th), sees the singer back in Georgia.
The visualizer for the track (which is, simply put, a bop) is what Nam describes as “retro vintage Gucci with pearls, painted nails, and boots with heels” and was shot against the backdrop of Savannah, Georgia, a city steeped in history both lovely and difficult to reconcile.
Related Video
The choice of the American South was highly intentional. “I wanted to take my fans and listeners somewhere they haven’t been before — or maybe somewhere that they haven’t seen an Asian person in an elevated way,” he explains.
Deceptive in its catchiness, “I Don’t Know You Anymore” centers on the feeling of betrayal that can come from a massive falling out. “I knew exactly what I wanted to write about,” he shares. “I was a little cautious because it was so fresh to me, but it was a very real emotion and I wanted to just get it out there… I ranted, and I vented, and we took that energy and put it into the song.”
Down the road, he says that he’s eager to dip into Latin music or record a Spanish ballad, and, of course, explore the country storytelling that has him so lit up. Nam has been making music for the better part of a decade and writing both for himself and other artists. He feels now, though, that he’s coming into his own when it comes to unlocking the directions he’d like to take.