Life Listens: New music from Ed Sheeran, A-mei, Depeche Mode, Lana Del Rey and Nathan Hartono

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

Chart Champ: Lana Del Rey – Did You Know That There’s A Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd

American singer-songwriter Lana Del Rey’s latest album is set to take the top spot in the British charts, her sixth album to go to No. 1.

Her ninth album overall, Did You Know That There’s A Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd is her most introspective collection of songs yet, a fascinating evolution of an artiste who has taken on several mythical personas in past releases.

The wordy album title refers to a beautifully decorated, but now long abandoned, tunnel in her home state of California. In the title track, she questions if a similar fate lies in store in her future.

Many songs touch on her loved ones. Album opener The Grants namechecks her family, and while she mourns the ones who have passed, she also alludes to her fractious relationship with her mother as well as contentious past loves.

Her rich and velvety voice is often accompanied by lush pianos and intricate, reverb-laden instrumentation courtesy of producers and collaborators such as Jack Antonoff, who famously works closely with other high-profile female singer-songwriters such as Taylor Swift and Lorde.

But the standout tracks such as A&W and Taco Truck x VB also veer into experimental territory with trap and trip-hop beats, solid reminders of her uncanny ability to seamlessly merge Americana, pop, R&B and hip-hop into a cohesive whole. - Eddino Abdul Hadi

Ace Album: Depeche Mode – Memento Mori

Memento Mori is the first album by English synthpop pioneers Depeche Mode since keyboardist and founding member Andy Fletcher died of aortic dissection, a tear in a main artery, in 2022.

The release is also timely, given that there is a renewed interest in the 43-year-old band after their 1980s songs were used in the HBO post-apocalyptic drama The Last Of Us (2023).

Now just the duo of singer Dave Gahan and songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Martin Gore, the pair address the loss in a compelling collection of songs that confront mortality.

Their 15th album’s title is a Latin phrase that translates to “remember you must die”. But rather than take on a mournful tone, the tunes are passionate and intense.

Like all the gems in Depeche Mode’s four-decades-old discography, the songs in Memento Mori are dark and beautiful. Gahan’s commanding baritone soars above the dense and layered beats and synthesizers, a stark contrast to Gore’s occasional soulful tenor.

Tracks like My Cosmos Is Mine are haunting, but the band also retain their pop sensibilities with anthemic single Ghosts Again and the glowing Never Let Me Go.

And then there is album closer Speak To Me, a cinematic and expansive track that builds to a crescendo, as Gahan makes an impassioned plea for a saviour in the hour of need. - Eddino Abdul Hadi

Stream This Song: A-mei – Tristesse

Sometimes when tragedy or despair strikes, one can be so broken that no music can appropriately express one’s pain. In such songs about sadness, perhaps the best choice is to feature as little music as possible.

This seems to be the case with Taiwanese singer A-mei’s new single Tristesse. The ballad’s title is the French word for sadness, and its minimal instrumentation conveys this mournful mood.

The track also uses as a prelude Polish composer Frederic Chopin’s beautiful composition Etude Op. 10 No. 3, which has also been given the name Tristesse.

This soft accompaniment allows the tune’s tender lyrics, penned by Taiwanese lyricist Kay Huang, to ring with melancholy. The words capture the shock and sorrow of a loved one’s unexpected departure, with lines such as “Parting is always so sudden/I’m in the room you left me/breathing/your leaving”.

The emotions are sombre here, but A-mei, known for the emotional range of her vocals, carries these heavy feelings with a beautiful dignity. - Benson Ang

Must-see MV: Ed Sheeran – Eyes Closed

At a cursory glance, British pop star Ed Sheeran’s music video for new single Eyes Closed looks like another light-hearted work featuring the singer and cute, imaginary monsters, similar to the Pokemon-themed video of his last release, Celestial.

But the subject matter is actually a lot more serious.

The furry, owl-like creature that follows Sheeran on a night out on the town and gets bigger and bigger is supposed to be a metaphor for grief.

Sheeran has explained that Eyes Closed is about losing someone close and how one is constantly reminded of the loss.

He went through two personal tragedies recently. Jamal Edwards, his close friend and a music entrepreneur who played a pivotal role in launching Sheeran’s music career, died. Sheeran’s wife, Cherry Seaborn, was also diagnosed with a tumour.

Song-wise, Eyes Closed plays it safe and has all the hallmarks of a Sheeran banger – earnest singing and big, rousing chorus.

It is the lead single of -, the symbol for “subtract”, his upcoming fifth album which, like previous LPs, is named after a mathematical symbol. - Eddino Abdul Hadi

Singapore Scene: Nathan Hartono – Pastrami

Despite its title and the cover artwork featuring home-grown singer-songwriter Nathan Hartono chomping down on an oversized sandwich, Pastrami is not a mukbang-inspired tune.

The moniker is a pun on the term “past trauma”, a weighty subject he tackles with disarming honesty.

The upbeat melodies and shimmery pop ambience belie confessional lyrics in which he takes on the long and uncomfortable process of dealing with, and processing, suppressed pain.

“The first time I heard this track in demo form, I found myself crying uncontrollably,” he says in a statement. “Something that has never happened in my entire career as a singer. The process of writing and recording it was more cathartic than I could ever know. What’s more is that I feel like I’ve exorcised a little bit of my pain in a positive way, which gives me hope in dealing with it more in the future.”

Hartono, who directed the song’s animated music video and designed the artwork, is also working on a long-awaited new album, The Great Regression, scheduled to be released later in 2023. - Eddino Abdul Hadi