Tuesday 10 November 2026
Seoul-born, Virginia-based pop soul singer-songwriter Jae Jin was never supposed to make it to 42. Diagnosed at 17 with a terminal rare illness and given two months to live, he is now a two-time survivor with a fifth album, ‘Praying With Eyes Open’, just released. It was preceded by two singles, the gentle and luminous “Through The Waves” and the playful, upbeat “Crayons“, both out now with music videos. Here are five things to know.
1. His story is one of borrowed time
After his diagnosis at 17, Jae Jin went through experimental chemotherapy twice in five years. He left a path toward an MD/MBA to pursue music full-time at the age of 30, believing his time was short. “My illness story is centered around my going into music full-time at the age of 30 because I was supposed to die in my 30s,” he says. “As someone that somehow made it to 42, I wanted to write from an honest place of how with every challenge and thorn, there is also a blessing. Life truly is bittersweet.” The album was released on 6 November, which was also his birthday.
2. The album is about time, faith and the broken crayons
“I wanted to pull together a body of work that challenges listeners to think about what they believe especially in the context of the one common denominator that none of us can buy more of… which is time,” Jin says. On the playful “Crayons”, “even the broken ones…still color the same.” “All Creation Groans” was written for his wife after she lost her father, while “Walking Each Other Home” is a tribute to his late friend Daniel, who died of cancer before Jin could play it for him. “Bittersweet” came straight from his journal, reflecting on his life at this point in time.
3. “Through The Waves” opens the record
The first single is also the album’s first track. “Through The Waves is the first single, and the first track, on the album and is a peaceful acoustic-driven song that I wrote about my own struggle with and through my own faith journey,” Jin says. “It’s about acknowledging that there are highs and lows in life but that in times of darkness, I can still remember what I believed in light.” The chorus runs: “I need the night to see the stars that slumber away / With you by my side, tomorrow’s better than today.” Cellist Matt Butler, who also tours with Maren Morris and Kirk Franklin, glides over simple acoustic guitars, with haunting slide guitar in the background.
4. Fan-funded and made entirely by humans
Jin launched his first Kickstarter campaign since his 2015 debut, with an all-or-nothing goal of $20,000. “To my surprise, in the first two days we reached my goal and, in the end, ended up raising $34,000,” he says. Kickstarter gave the campaign its “Projects We Love” badge, and he spent the summer of 2026 recording in Nashville with co-producer and longtime mentee Aaron Hayes, who played most of the instruments and engineered, mixed and mastered the songs. Every note was played by real musicians on vintage microphones and analog gear. “For all of my albums in the past, I have never used samples, beats or fake instruments,” Jin says.
5. An award-winning, globe-trotting career
Since 2015, Jin has independently released four albums: ‘Kairos’, ‘Baltimore Boulevard’, ‘Letters and Drinks’ and ‘The Seasons In Between’. His songs have earned GRAMMY consideration on every one, most recently “Lifelines Always Have Two Ends”, considered in three categories including Song of the Year, and “11:11” won the John Lennon Songwriting Award. His music has appeared in more than 100 Korean dramas and TV shows, and he has played nearly 800 concerts across North America, Europe and Asia. He has also sung on The Voice, acted in House of Cards, given a TEDx talk and taught at NYU Steinhardt.
Listen
Album: ‘Praying With Eyes Open’ by Jae Jin
Released: 6 November 2026, out now
Singles: “Through The Waves” and “Crayons”, both out now with music videos
Co-produced by: Jae Jin and Aaron Hayes, recorded in Nashville