St. Lenox is an American indie pop outfit from Columbus, Ohio, United States, helmed by Andrew Choi. On stage, St. Lenox consists of Andrew Choi and a rotating list of musicians from Columbus and New York City, including Chris Hills, Nick Federinko, Jorge Vega, Brandon Vitruls and Jesse Waits. St. Lenox is currently on the Don Giovanni Records label.
AllMusic states that the project "ha[s] resulted in some of the most unique and unconventionally thrilling pop music in the late 2010s," noting Choi's use of "profoundly engaging biographical narratives" and American social commentary, observing "he has certainly carved out his own distinctive niche and owns it completely." Similarly, Popmatters refers to Choi's penchant for auto-biography and American commentary as Whitmanian, stating that St. Lenox "celebrates himself, New York City, the diverse people and occupations of Americans, and the body electric" in his work.
Biography
Early life
Prior to St. Lenox, Andrew Choi was a concert violinist, who attended the pre-college program at Juilliard School, where he was a student of Won Bin Yim and Dorothy Delay. Choi was a 1st Prize winner of the American String Teacher's Association National Solo Competition for the violin. Choi was also the concertmaster of the World Youth Symphony Orchestra at the Interlochen Center for the Arts. Choi received an undergraduate degree from Princeton University, a PhD from The Ohio State University and a JD from New York University.
Ten Songs About Memory and Hope (2015) St. Lenox's debut album, Ten Songs About Memory and Hope has received critical acclaim, with NPR noting Choi's "gigantic voice" and observing "He belts out his regrets with uncanny melisma, like John Darnielle channeling Tony Clifton." Dusted Magazine observed "confessions include Mountain Goatsesque fictions ... detailed memories with slightly sci-fi skews of the present ... But he belts them with an utter lack of guile ... You want to hang out with the guy. You want to hear him talk." College Music Journal called St. Lenox "a mournful ... act that features odd but slowly ingratiating melodies and time signatures, not to mention Choi’s tear-stained, journal-like lyrics that spill out and around the songs. Live, it can be arrestingly intense or just curious, depending on your ability to let love in, as Nick Cave might say. And actually, there’s a darkness to St. Lenox that probably means he has a few Cave CDs on his shelves." Comparisons with the Mountain Goats include statements from John Darnielle, who called Choi a "lyricist of the highest order," remarking that he was "feeling really evangelical about just how good a lyricist Andy choi is." Alternatively, Josh Terzino of Music. Defined notes that St. Lenox has "a storytelling style reminiscent of a young Billy Joel."
In 2015, Ten Songs About Memory and Hope was placed on a number of local and regional End-of-Year lists. Of note, the Editor-in-Chief of Noisey (VICE's music division) named the song "Bitter Pill" one of the ten best songs of the year, noting "this might be one of the saddest songs I’ve ever heard."
Ten Hymns from My American Gothic (2016-2017) In October 2016, St. Lenox released his sophomore album, "Ten Hymns From My American Gothic," written as a gift to his father, who immigrated from South Korea, in honor of his 70th birthday. Commenting on the album in Angry Asian Man, Choi noted that the album focused on first and second-generation American narratives, and was written as a form of modern American social realism. Given the timing of the release, some writers interpreted the album as a commentary on the 2016 Presidential Election.