Life Listens: Nathan Hartono on Music Lab podcast, new music from Suga, Ozone and Feist

In this weekly column, The Straits Times curates the most buzz-worthy music you need to know about now.

Singapore Scene: Nathan Hartono on Music Lab podcast

Becoming famous in China led to an identity crisis, local singer-songwriter Nathan Hartono reveals in the third and latest episode of The Straits Times’ podcast series Music Lab.

The pop artiste speaks about how the experience of taking part in the first season of reality show Sing! China (2016 to 2022), where he was mentored by Mandopop star Jay Chou and finished in second place, turned his life upside down.

In 2020, while the pandemic was still in full swing, he took on the task of singing the National Day theme song, Everything I Am, the closest he ever got to having a hit song, he says.

He also recalls how a family karaoke session at the age of 14 eventually led to him winning singing contest Teenage Icon, kicking off his music career.

In the episode, Hartono also performs a stripped-down rendition of his new single Pastrami, a song about dealing with past trauma.

Backed only by his acoustic guitar, this live rendition eschews the electronic pop sheen of the original version for a raw and ardent take on a soul-baring, confessional tune.

Listen to the full interview on Music Lab at 

str.sg/io5L

 and the performance of Pastrami at 

str.sg/ioof.

 - Eddino Abdul Hadi

Must-See MV: Adele – The Final Carpool Karaoke

After eight years, Carpool Karaoke – the popular segment from The Late Late Show With James Corden in which the British host-actor sings with music celebrities in a car – has come to an end.

The talk show itself, which he helmed since 2015, is set to air its final episode on Thursday.

British singer Adele is Corden’s last guest, which is significant not only because she is one of the biggest stars in contemporary pop, but also because the pair are apparently extremely close.

Together, they sing along to some of Adele’s signature hits such as Rolling In The Deep (2011), as well as a very spirited version of American singer Barbra Streisand’s 1964 musical number Don’t Rain On My Parade.

But it is the conversations in between songs as they drive around Los Angeles that are really memorable.

For instance, Adele reveals it was Corden and his family who helped her through tough times after she filed for divorce from her former husband Simon Konecki in 2019.

Both get teary-eyed as they croon I Drink Wine from her fourth and latest album, 30 (2021).

The song, she declares, was partly inspired by the time Corden confided in her when he himself was going through hardships. - Eddino Abdul Hadi

Ace Album: Feist – Multitudes

Life and death figure prominently in the new album by Canadian singer-songwriter Feist.

Multitudes is her first work since the birth of her adopted daughter, now two years old, and the sudden death of the singer’s father.

Feist, co-founder of award-winning indie rock collective Broken Social Scene, approaches these two life-altering events with a delicate touch.

Love Who We Are Meant To, for example, turns personal thoughts into something universally relatable, while The Redwing broaches the off-grid life.

The songs are mostly quiet, folksy numbers, but there are also those, such as opening tune In Lightning, that flirt with electronic effects and commanding percussions.

Feist’s rich and velvety vocals are still heavenly – and induce goosebumps on Song For Sad Friends – an indication once again that she possesses one of the indie scene’s finest voices. - Eddino Abdul Hadi

Chart Champ: Agust D – D-Day

Trust a BTS boy to top the charts. The superstar K-pop group’s rapper Suga, also known by his alias Agust D in his solo work, sold more than one million copies of his latest album D-Day on the first day of its release on April 21, posting the biggest first-day sales ever among K-pop soloists.

The 10-track album also topped Japan’s Oricon daily album ranking after selling more than 110,000 copies in a day within Japan. One of the pre-released tracks on the album is People Pt. 2, a pleasant, lo-fi R&B collaboration with South Korean singer-actress IU, which made its debut atop Billboard’s Rap Digital Song Sales chart.

D-Day is the 30-year-old’s biggest solo project to date, following his mixtapes Agust D (2016) and D-2 (2020), and will anchor his solo tour – which kicks off on Wednesday in America and will play for three nights from June 16 to 18 in Singapore.

Themed around liberation, the hip-hop and rap album is a soul-baring venture for Suga, whose real name is Min Yoon-gi.

Paired with a cinematic music video, the loud, sinister rap track Haegeum discusses his deep-seated discomfort with living under late-stage capitalism and social media, in a world that is obsessed with YouTube views and money.

In Amygdala, Suga mines his painful past – his mother’s heart surgery, his car accident as a teenage delivery driver and his father’s liver cancer diagnosis – for an angsty emotional catharsis.

There are also familiar names that pop up on D-Day. Fellow BTS member J-Hope works with Suga on the drill track Huh?!, which seems to take aim at haters.

But most poignantly, the album features the late Oscar-winning Japanese musician-composer Ryuichi Sakamoto, whom Suga cites as one of his earliest musical influences and heroes.

Sakamoto died at the age of 71 in March after a long battle with cancer. His piano-playing features in the number Snooze, alongside Woosung of K-rock band The Rose. - Jan Lee

Stream This Song: Ozone – Painful Hug

One of Taiwan’s newest boy bands is off to a promising start. Since forming through the Taiwanese survival show Atom Boyz in November 2022, the six-member group comprising Andrew, Samuel, Tin, Summer, Rex and Jim have released an EP and a number of singles.

And now, Ozone have a drama theme song under their belt. Rock ballad Painful Hug is from the Taiwanese fantasy drama Oh No! Here Comes Trouble, which is available on video streaming service iQiyi International.

The show is about a high school student (Tseng Jing-hua) whose life changes after a car accident as he gains the ability to communicate with supernatural beings who have unresolved issues. Painful Hug communicates their painful existence, trapped by their past and bound to their obsessions.

The track is a relatable number set to resonate with the masses and propel Ozone’s music to new heights. - Benson Ang