Chain Prayer from We Count by Minyohub

The steady grind of Daon's bike chain forms the spine here, a rhythmic, almost hypnotic prayer. This piece dissects the devotion found in mundane, repetitive labor, elevating it to something sacred. Daon's ascent, pushing warmth through city veins where elevators refuse to pause, is echoed in Eunchae's rough benediction and Hyejin's haegeum line that trembles, not from weakness, but controlled release. Musically, the initial slow 5/4 guitar swells against swung drums, building a patient tension. The center breaks into a sparse, contact-mic’d bicycle spokes and haegeum duet, an innovative textural shift where individual valve pops and rosin-dusted bowing create a visceral sonic landscape. On stage, this instrumental becomes a tangible, almost exhausting ascent, drawing the audience into the sheer physical effort, making the space feel both vast and confined by the sound alone. The return of the refrain, hitting half a bar early, feels like a sudden, collective breath, solidified by low choir oohs tucked underneath the lingering snare grit. It’s an honest look at persistence as a form of grace, the unsung sacredness of just... keeping things moving.

Minyohub. Minyo-hop, post-rock. We sing shifts: hospital hum, server whir, bike chains. Korean stories, raw.