Decca Records Signs South Korean Composer Jung Jae-il

Upon signing, Jung's first project with Decca will be his choral-electronic album psalms, which will see its international release on July 22 in partnership with Universal Music Korea.

Using Psalm verses from the Bible as text, the new album includes choral a cappella, string ensemble, and electronics. Featuring the Budapest Scoring Orchestra and Choir, the music commemorates the 40th anniversary of the May 18th Democratic Uprising of Gwangju, South Korea.

In addition to his soundtracks for films Parasite and Okja, Jung has collaborated with K-pop artists such as Hyo Shin Park. A graduate of the Seoul Jazz Academy, he won the Hollywood Music in Media Award for this soundtrack for Squid Game — Netflix's most-watched series ever.

Paying homage to classical composers, Jung uses musical quotations from Handel, Beethoven, and Johann Strauss in the Squid Game and Parasite scores.

“We are thrilled to work with Jung Jaeil," commented Co-Presidents of Decca Label Group, Tom Lewis and Laura Monks. "His unique style and approach to composition makes him stand out from the crowd. He has already achieved great recognition for his soundtrack work that we now aim to amplify on a global scale."

“I grew up listening to countless albums from Decca so am truly amazed that my music is now being released on Decca and I’m getting to join an archive filled with historical recordings from the legends," Jung said. "For my album 'psalms,' I found so many prayers from the Bible that relate to our current lives, so I sincerely hope that this work can resonate through the difficult times.”