Trot singer Jang Min-ho has unveiled the full tracklist for his upcoming mini album “Essay ep.4,” setting the stage for its release on November 24 with six songs built around the theme of life. The singer shared the tracklist image through his official social media channels on November 11, according to SportsWorld.
The album’s title track is “Mountain, Life” (산, 삶), and the six-track set also includes the pre-released single “To a Friend Called Life” (인생이란 친구에게), “Cry When You Want to Cry” (울고 싶을 때는 울어라), “Cherry Blossom Fallen Leaves” (벚꽃낙엽), “The Wind” (바람이요), and “Kim Hyung” (김형). The tracklist reveal gives fans their first complete look at the record, two weeks ahead of its release.
The album brings together a broad lineup of collaborators. Park Sun-joo, the duo Algeo-boni Honsu-sangtae, Yoon Myung-sun, Lee Yong-gu and Lee Dong-cheol, Im Dae-yeol, and Yoo Jae-wook all took part in the project, according to SportsWorld. The six songs span jazz-flavored adult contemporary trot, ballad trot, and gugak-style disco, and the album also includes a self-composed song by Jang himself, underscoring how hands-on he has been with this release.
The title track reunites Jang with composer Yoon Myung-sun, who also wrote his signature song “A Man Says” (남자는 말합니다). “Mountain, Life” likens a life of repeated success and failure, frustration and hope, to the process of climbing a mountain, turning the album’s central theme into its lead single. The rest of the record follows the same thread: the album is built around “life” itself, capturing the moments people meet along the way, from mountains and wind to the seasons when flowers bloom and fall.
The pre-released single has already set the tone for the comeback. “To a Friend Called Life” was released through major music platforms at 6 p.m. on November 4, written and composed by singer-songwriter Park Sun-joo, according to Topstarnews. The track is described in the album introduction released through distributor Kakao Entertainment as adult contemporary trot blended with jazz sensibilities, and a music video was released alongside the single.
The song was Jang’s first new music in about a year, following last year’s remake album “Analog Vol.1,” and its rollout has been deliberately paced. It made its live debut at the 2026 Korea Grand Music Awards on November 7, and Jang is set to perform it again on MBC ON’s “Trot Champion” on November 12, keeping the pre-release song in front of audiences right up to the album’s arrival.
“Essay ep.4” is the fourth chapter of an ongoing series through which Jang has been telling his own story in music. The series began with “Essay ep.1” in January 2022, continued with “Essay ep.2” in October 2023 and “Essay ep.3” in November 2024, and the new installment extends that run two years after the previous chapter. The throughline has been consistent: short, essay-like records that frame everyday life and personal reflection in trot, with each chapter adding a new set of collaborators and sounds.
Interest in the comeback is already showing up in the numbers. Jang ranked sixth overall in Topstarnews’ Week 44 singer brand value rankings for 2026, covering October 26 through November 1, up one spot from the previous week, as attention gathered around the new song and the approaching album.
Park Sun-joo’s role ties the two halves of the rollout together: she wrote and composed the pre-release single and is also credited among the album’s collaborators, so the sound fans heard on November 4 is part of the same sessions as the full record. The November 12 “Trot Champion” appearance, five days after the song’s awards-show debut, gives the pre-release track a second television stage before the album lands.
With the tracklist now public, the rest of Jang’s November schedule falls into place: the “Trot Champion” stage on November 12, followed by the full release of “Essay ep.4” on November 24. The album will show whether the jazz-inflected sound of the pre-release single carries across the full six tracks.
