Life Listens: New music from Jisoo, Jack Black, Joanna Dong, Labrinth and Yaeji
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(Clockwise from top left) Blackpink member Jisoo, Singaporean singer Joanna Dong, Actor-singer Jack Black and British singer Labrinth.
PHOTOS: REUTERS, JOANNA DONG/FACBEOOK, LYRICAL LEMONADE/YOUTUBE, LABRINTH/INSTAGRAM
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In this weekly column, The Straits Times curates the most buzz-worthy music you need to know about now.
Chart Champ: Jisoo – Flower
With her single Flower, included in the two-track EP Me, Jisoo – the last member of K-pop girl group Blackpink to make a solo debut – has become the first South Korean female soloist to enter the Top 40 of the Official United Kingdom Singles Charts.
Flower made its Top 40 debut at No. 38 on the latest chart, released last Friday. It was also No. 1 on the iTunes Top Songs charts in at least 57 different regions within a day of its release on March 31. Its music video already has a whopping 114 million views.
The song is pretty and elegant, beginning with finger snapping and plucked strings, and going heavy on the percussion. But it feels somewhat underwhelming and would have benefited from a more memorable hook. As it stands, the number feels muted, especially for a singer from the biggest girl group in the world.
Jisoo is the last member of Blackpink to have a solo debut.
PHOTO: BLACKPINK/TWITTER
Me also includes All Eyes On Me, a more straightforward upbeat dance number that feels like it would be a fun, stomping anthem to hear live. Perhaps she will perform it at Blackpink’s concerts at the National Stadium on May 13 and 14. – Jan Lee
Singapore Scene: Joanna Dong – DDMMYY
Singaporean singer Joanna Dong.
PHOTO: JOANNA DONG/FACEBOOK
The local singer’s EP plays like a journal of her emotions since the Covid-19 pandemic broke out in 2020. Released on April 7, three years after Singapore went into a circuit breaker, its Mandarin title translates into “days, months and years” and comes from a line from the iconic track Endless Love For You (1990), by Hong Kong Heavenly King Aaron Kwok.
In a Facebook post, Dong wrote: “I’m grateful for the days, months and years that have since passed. I hope these songs find their way into your days too.”
Her five-track work features only one original song, Wait Till You Wake, which captures the apprehension and uncertainty of the pandemic’s early days. One line – “Can I share your space?” – has echoes of social distancing, once part of everyday life.
Cover of the EP DDMMYY, by Singaporean singer Joanna Dong.
PHOTO: DO BE DO DI
DDMMYY’s four other tracks are cover songs. Three of them – Kwok’s Endless Love For You, Sally Yeh’s Run Without Care (1991) and a mash-up of A-mei’s So You Don’t Want Anything (1996) and The Corrs’ What Can I Do (1997) – are slower and more stripped-down than their originals, and perhaps reflect a more sombre attitude to love in those grey days.
However, Dong’s gentle voice delivers a more hopeful and soothing version of Light Breaks In (2015) by Singaporean singer-songwriter Charlie Lim, replacing the original’s poignancy with a quiet confidence that things will get better. And thankfully, they did. – Benson Ang
Must-See MV: Jack Black – Peaches
The past week has been big for American actor, comedian and singer Jack Black.
Not only did he have a prominent role in an episode of popular Star Wars series The Mandalorian (2019 to present), but he also voiced the scene-stealing villain Bowser in animated box-office hit The Super Mario Bros Movie, now showing in cinemas.
A song he sings in the family film, a piano-driven ode to Princess Peach titled Peaches, has gone viral too. And it now has its own music video featuring Black and his trademark over-the-top style.
It is no secret that Black, one half of music duo Tenacious D, is a naturally gifted singer-songwriter and a vivacious live performer.
The Super Mario Bros Movie soundtrack includes Peaches, a song by Jack Black, who voices one of the film’s characters, Bowser.
PHOTO: BACK LOT MUSIC
From the peach-coloured piano and set to Black’s shiny green suit and Bowser-like headgear, there is nothing subtle about this video.
Try not to laugh out loud as you watch the funnyman sing in the character’s gruff voice while doing his usual flamboyant dancing. – Eddino Abdul Hadi
Stream This Song: Labrinth – Never Felt So Alone
British singer Labrinth’s song Never Felt So Alone was featured in the second season of teen drama series Euphoria.
PHOTO: COLUMBIA RECORDS
If you find the female vocals in Never Felt So Alone – the new single by award-winning British singer-rapper Labrinth – familiar, that is because they belong to American pop star Billie Eilish.
The two share the same producer – Eilish’s brother Finneas.
Amid a dreamy blend of soulful R&B and atmospheric electronica, the duo contemplate solitude after a relationship breaks down.
Labrinth, whose real name is Timothy Lee McKenzie, is also known as the composer of the score for both seasons of gritty HBO drama series Euphoria (2019 to present).
He won an Emmy in 2020 for Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics for All For Us, which was sung in the show by its lead actress Zendaya.
The release of Never Felt So Alone is a long time coming. It was first previewed on Euphoria back in 2019 and later went viral on TikTok, with fans clamouring for its official release ever since. – Eddino Abdul Hadi
Ace Album: Yaeji – With A Hammer
With A Hammer is the debut album of Korean-American singer and electronic music artiste Yaeji.
PHOTO: XL RECORDINGS
Like many K-pop artistes, Yaeji sings in both Korean and English. But that is where the similarities end.
Born in New York and raised in South Korea and the United States, she is an electronic music wunderkind who is also a DJ, producer, rapper and remixer.
Her debut album With A Hammer comprises songs composed in the last couple of years in New York, Seoul and London.
Like the album cover, which depicts the pigtailed singer wielding a hammer a la the Norse god of thunder Thor, her wide-ranging brand of alternative pop can be both sweet and forceful.
Singer and electronic music artiste Yaeji sings in Korean and English on her debut album With A Hammer.
PHOTO: DASOM HAN
Her sing-song voice and melodic chants are sometimes backed by gnarly drum and bass beats. At other times, she crafts ambient soundscapes that are soothing and meditative.
Besides blending genres such as trip-hop, house and rock, she also adds live instruments into the mix.
Opening track Submerge FM, for example, features an interplay between a flute and synthesizers, while the gauzy I’ll Remember For Me, I’ll Remember For You features robust trumpets. – Eddino Abdul Hadi
