Life Listens: New music from V, Mitski, Diddy, Kenya Grace and Subsonic Eye

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

Chart Champ: V – Layover

K-pop juggernaut BTS’ V has broken new records with his debut EP Layover since it was released on Sept 8.

Not only did the album set the highest first-day sales record by any K-pop soloist in history with 1.67 million copies sold, but it also sold over 2.1 million copies in its first week.

This makes it the best-selling K-pop solo album in terms of first-week sales. The record was previously held by fellow BTS member Jimin, whose solo release Face sold more than 1.45 million copies in a week in March.

V, whose real name is Kim Tae-hyung, is the last member of the septet to debut as a solo artiste.

Stepping away from the hard-hitting dance numbers with complex choreography that both BTS and K-pop are known for, the songs on Layover reflect V’s sensual and jazzy taste in music.

The album’s focus track is Slow Dancing, a pop/R&B/soul-style tune with a minute-long instrumental outro, showcasing the song’s use of the flute.

It topped iTunes’ Top Songs charts in 75 countries upon its release. V recently unveiled a piano version on Japanese music channel The First Take.

Other songs include the longing break-up number Love Me Again and melancholic Rainy Days. – Jan Lee

Ace Album: Mitski – The Land Is Inhospitable And So Are We

Long a cult favourite for her deeply introspective repertoire, Mitski inched closer to mainstream prominence when she was nominated at the Academy Awards earlier in 2023.

The Japan-born American indie singer-songwriter, whose full name is Mitsuki Laycock-Miyawaki, co-wrote and sang This Is A Life from Oscar-winning film Everything Everywhere All At Once (2022), which was in the running for Best Original Song.

It did not win, but her dalliance with soundtrack-type music seems to have carried on in her latest album.

The Land Is Inhospitable And So Are We, her seventh album, is profoundly atmospheric.

Her reflections on love, solitude, heartbreak and hope are still heartrending. But this time, the tunes are elevated with sweeping orchestration and lush choirs, like a soundtrack for classic Hollywood films.

The music is a marked departure from her previous album, Laurel Hell (2022), which had tracks dressed in glossy, synth-laden pop and upbeat rhythms.

Through measured vocals and lyrics that display a keen eye for detail, she crafts a cinematic world that draws the listener in. – Eddino Abdul Hadi

Must-see MV: Diddy – Another One Of Me

American rapper, hit-making producer and hip-hop mogul Diddy is no stranger to assembling stars.

His new single, Another One Of Me, puts together two contemporary chart-toppers – Canadian singer The Weeknd and American rapper 21 Savage – with seasoned Moroccan-American rapper French Montana.

All four of them appear in the music video, performing against computer-generated backdrops that feature futuristic scenes and, in Diddy’s segment, what appears to be a stairway to the heavens.

Another One Of Me is also significant because The Weeknd had said this is the last time he is featuring in another artiste’s song.

The moody tune is from Diddy’s newest album, The Love Album: Off The Grid, which features many other collaborators such as American artiste John Legend and Canadian singer Justin Bieber.

The music luminary, whose real name is Sean Combs, was awarded the Global Icon Award at the recent 2023 MTV Video Music Awards. – Eddino Abdul Hadi

Singapore Scene: Subsonic Eye – All Around You

Quintet Subsonic Eye retain their reputation as one of the home-grown indie scene’s most prodigious bands with their fourth full-length album, All Around You.

Like their 2021 offering Nature Of Things, they are still enamoured with nature, but this time, their fascination is tempered with the grind of urban life.

There are tracks like J-O-B and Machine, where singer Nur Wahidah narrates the drudgery of work, and Performative (“Ticking boxes, charging laptops, separating causes from ourselves”) which deals with the malaise of modern existence.

Salvation, they sing in closing track Everything, lies in the environment (“The sun rise, I watch still, watching the gold bathe the birds, bringing song into cities, bringing luxury in our souls”).

Aided by sonically vibrant guitar lines and enthusiastic drums, these are songs that sparkle and shine.

The band have a busy schedule ahead. They will launch All Around You with a show at the Esplanade Annexe Studio on Sept 30 at 7.30pm as part of the Esplanade’s Mosaic Music Series. Tickets from $25.20 are available from

bit.ly/3PHBBzs

.

After that, they fly off for a United States tour in October that will include gigs in cities such as Los Angeles, Seattle and New York. – Eddino Abdul Hadi

Stream This Song: Kenya Grace – Strangers

British singer, songwriter and producer Kenya Grace has risen from relative obscurity to the big leagues with electronic dance tune Strangers.

A refined dancefloor-filler with perky drum ’n’ bass beats and sugary vocals, it is her first release with a major record company, Major Recordings, a dance label owned by Warner Records.

The song blew up on TikTok when it dropped on Sept 1, and went to No. 2 on Billboard’s Hot Dance/Electronic Songs in the US. Observers expect it to hit the Top 5 on the British charts later in the week.

The South Africa-born artiste’s previous songs were all independently released. She has also collaborated with underground electronic acts such as 3Strange.

Incidentally, Grace is a graduate of British music school Academy of Contemporary Music – the same institution that British pop superstar Ed Sheeran attended. – Eddino Abdul Hadi