Life Listens: New music from Miley Cyrus, Benjamin Kheng, Stray Kids, Yoga Lin and Slowdive

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

Must-See MV: Miley Cyrus – Used To Be Young

Miley Cyrus’ tears in the music video for her song Used To Be Young are apparently real.

In the emotional ballad, the American pop star reflects on her wild partying past, and contemplates change and the passage of time.

Cyrus, 30, says she got emotional because she was looking at her mother and manager Tish Cyrus, 56, who was live-streamed from inside the video camera that was filming her.

“So, we could see each other and as she was dancing, it just made me cry, it made me laugh, it brought up so many real emotions and I think it’s really letting people into true emotion, which I don’t feel we get to see very much these days,” says the singer-actress in a press statement.

Underneath her custom-made Maison Margiela bodysuit designed by John Galliano, Miley Cyrus wears a Mickey Mouse T-shirt, a nod to her beginnings as a child star on Disney Channel sitcom Hannah Montana (2006 to 2011).

To celebrate the release of Used To Be Young, Cyrus also put out Endless Summer Vacation: Continued (Backyard Sessions), a Disney+ show featuring an in-depth interview as well as performances of her hit songs.

Ace Album: Slowdive – Everything Is Alive

As one of the original purveyors of shoegaze, British band Slowdive helped set the template for the subgenre of alternative rock that had its roots in the late 1980s.

With their new and fifth album Everything Is Alive, the band show that they still have the imagination to move their dreamy, moody sound forward.

This is their second album since they reformed in 2014, and is a follow-up to 2017’s eponymous release. The first iteration of the group lasted from 1989 to 1995.

Compared with the grit and lo-fi aesthetics of their early 1990s output, the new tracks shine with stereoscopic brilliance.

Tracks such as Shanty and The Slab soar on hypnotic rhythms, droning guitars and the gauzy twin vocals from singers Rachel Goswell and Neil Halstead.

Meanwhile, Chained To A Cloud is decorated with prominent electronic textures, courtesy of Halstead’s fixation with modular synthesizers.

Dedicated to Goswell’s mother and drummer Simon Scott’s father, both of whom died in 2020, the new songs embrace sorrow and regret, but also embody feelings of gratitude and hope.

Singapore Scene: Benjamin Kheng – Gloomy Boogie Vol 1

Home-grown singer-songwriter Benjamin Kheng is releasing his new album in two parts.

The first one, Gloomy Boogie Vol 1, is now out, and it is quite possibly his most confessional work to date.

Kheng, who made his name as a member of pop quartet The Sam Willows, gets brutally honest in four new songs marked by a curious pairing of introspective lyrics and upbeat production.

He confronts feelings of loneliness in Little Spoon, a song featuring fetching melodies and intricate electronic pop flourishes, and general fatigue in Break From The Party.

Opening track Rock Bottom, in which Kheng grapples with heartbreak, is an electronic dance number and a collaboration with Filipino-Australian artist James Reid, while gutsy pop anthem Too Far Gone gleams with inventive beats and inspirational hooks.

The second part of Gloomy Boogie will be released in November.

Chart Champ: Stray Kids (featuring LiSA) – Social Path

K-pop boy band Stray Kids have topped iTunes charts around the world with their latest Japanese single Social Path.

One of two title tracks from the octet’s upcoming Japanese EP Social Path/Super Bowl, it landed on the iTunes Top Songs charts in at least 25 regions, including Japan.

It has also reigned supreme over Japan’s Line Music’s daily top 100 songs ranking since it was released for streaming on Aug 30.

The forceful rock track harks back to Stray Kids’ earlier material like their debut song District 9 (2018), but with a powerful boost by featured artist LiSA.

The Japanese singer-songwriter is a powerhouse anime song queen known for rock numbers such as the popular Gurenge (2020), the first opening theme for anime series Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba (2019 to present). The burst of energy she provides in the chorus elevates the track.

Stream This Song: Yoga Lin – Garbage Baby

It is not every day you hear a song comparing romance with household waste, but that is what happens in Garbage Baby, the latest single by Taiwanese singer Yoga Lin, released last Friday.

This refreshing track posits that love is about two people exchanging their personal trash.

There is a wicked sense of humour in its lyrics by Hong Kong songwriter Wyman Wong, with lines such as “Happiness is listening to each other saying every day: ‘Oh my darling, you are evil’”.

If relationships are about acceptance, warts and all, this analogy works. It conveys the playful teasing and loving banter between couples who are used to each other.

It also helps that Garbage Baby samples Polish composer Badarzewska-Baranowska’s Maiden’s Prayer, Op. 4. The well-known tune played by garbage trucks in Taiwan prompts residents to take their trash out to the vehicle.

Known for his eccentric approach to music, Lin delivers the song in his signature theatrical style. Definitely a unique number not likely to be thrown aside any time soon.