10cm

Kwon Jung-yeol didn't set out to make a horror song. For over a decade, 10cm's catalogue has run on warmth – romantic melancholy, cosy heartbreak, the kind of songwriting that soundtracks quiet nights rather than sleepless ones. "The Darkest Night," his ending theme for Strange: Junji Ito's Tales for Sleepless Nights, is the first time he's written directly into dread.

The series itself is a substantial swing: a live-action anthology adapting thirteen stories by Junji Ito, the mangaka whose work has shaped horror internationally, often compared to Stephen King and long dubbed the "Master of Horror" in Japan. Directed by Atsuhiro Yamada, Yūta Shimotsu and Ryōta Kondō, it premiered on TV Tokyo this July and streams internationally on HBO Max this autumn, with a New York Comic Con screening set for October. IVE open each episode with "Jigsaw"; 10cm closes every one of them out, regardless of which story that week's episode is telling.

Rather than chase the grotesque specifics of any single Ito tale, he built the track around something broader: the particular loneliness of feeling cut off from the world, a feeling he describes returning to often during the writing process, almost involuntarily.

Horror scoring usually reaches for dissonant production to generate unease. Kwon didn't. He kept the instrumental dreamlike and beautiful, and pushed all of the song's tension into his own vocal performance instead – more exposed than his usual style. It's a reversal of the expected horror-OST toolkit, and it lines up with something he's clearly known about himself for a while: underneath the cosy, romantic register he's known for, he says he's always been drawn to darker soundscapes. This wasn't a stretch so much as a door he'd been meaning to open.

We caught up with Kwon to talk about writing into a horror world for the first time, scoring for thirteen different stories at once, and what this project changed for him going forward.

When you started writing "The Darkest Night," what feeling did you want the listener left with after the credits roll?

I wanted to capture the fear and loneliness born from mental isolation. Ultimately, though, my goal was for listeners to walk away with a sense of comfort and a glimmer of hope once the final notes fade out.

Was there a specific moment in the writing process where the song started to feel like it belonged to this world rather than your usual one?

I think everyone experiences moments where they feel completely stranded from the rest of the world. For me, whenever that happens, the isolated time and space feel entirely detached from everyday reality. Because I was immersing myself in those specific emotions throughout the creative process, I found myself slipping into that unfamiliar realm quite often while working on the track.

Horror soundtracks often lean on dissonance or tension in the production. How did you decide where to place that discomfort in the song, and where to hold back?

The vocal performance is actually the sole source of tension and discomfort in this song. I intentionally recorded the vocals to sound much sharper and more vulnerable compared to my usual style. To balance that out, I surrounded the vocals with instrumental textures that feel more dreamlike and beautiful.

What did you take in from Ito's work itself before you started writing, and how much of that made it into the final track?

I grew up reading Junji Ito's work, so being asked to create the ending theme was an incredible honor. I approached it with immense care to do justice to his universe. Right from the early stages of writing, I tried to translate the profound solitude and peculiar aesthetics found in his art into sound. I am glad those elements are reflected in the final track.

"The Darkest Night" plays as the ending theme across every episode, regardless of which story is being told that week. How did you write something specific enough to feel intentional, but open enough to sit under thirteen different stories?

While this project was a major stylistic shift from my usual work and the show itself is far from conventional, I actually aimed for a sense of universality when making this track. Rather than focusing on grotesque feelings tied to hyper-specific incidents, I wanted to embed the universal despair and pain that anyone might go through. I think that emotional core is what allows the song to anchor the end of entirely different stories.

This is a first-time genre stretch for you. What did you learn about your own voice, as a vocalist, by pushing it somewhere unfamiliar?

Most of the tracks in 10cm's signature discography lean toward cozy and romantic vibes, but on a personal level, I have always loved darker soundscapes. So pushing my voice into this new territory didn't feel unnatural at all. It was actually thrilling and welcome. I hope both long-time 10cm listeners and new fans discovering me through the show enjoy this new dimension of my sonic identity.

The series is landing on HBO Max internationally, with screenings at New York Comic Con this October. How does it change your relationship to a song, knowing it's reaching an audience that may have no context for your existing catalogue?

Introducing 10cm's music to a brand-new audience for the first time is always nerve-wracking yet exciting. I hope viewers around the world fall in love with the series, and that my ending theme resonates deeply with them.

K-pop and K-indie artists are increasingly being commissioned for international projects. Where do you see your own work fitting into that shift?

I have never viewed myself as carrying a grand responsibility or leading a movement, but I definitely feel the expanding footprint of Korean indie artists lately. I am simply staying focused on doing what I do best, but I genuinely hope my peers and I can continue to gain traction and bring Korean music to even broader audiences.

Looking beyond "The Darkest Night" – has this project changed what kind of collaborations you want to pursue next?

I am deeply grateful for the opportunity to step out of my comfort zone through this project. It has given me the confidence to take on even more exciting challenges. I look forward to connecting with global fans through various amazing projects.