Singapore Scene

Ode to love and discovery

Kelvin Tan (above). PHOTO: LIM JIN FU
The Clouds Are Bleeding, And We All Can't Breathe (above).

These 10 releases by Singaporean acts in the past month include new ones by some of the stalwarts of the experimental music scene - The Observatory, Kelvin Tan and George Chua. There are also new names - jazz band Evolution Quartet and singer/producer Keat - with debut releases.


1 ALTERNATIVE/EXPERIMENTAL

SERENDIPITIES FOR THE DARKNESS - THE COVID SONGS/ THE CLOUDS ARE BLEEDING, AND WE ALL CAN'T BREATHE/ YOUR WORD IN MY HEART/ THE BEAUTY, METAMORPHOSISED/ A NEW HEAVEN AND NEW EARTH

Kelvin Tan

Hear it on: Spotify, Apple Music and other music streaming platforms

Watch it on YouTube here.

Alternative music stalwart Kelvin Tan's latest batch of five albums are divided into pre-and post-circuit breaker music.

His first single, the bluesy I Hope I Don't Get (The Covid), is taken from one of the albums, Serendipities For The Darkness - The Covid Songs, which comprises post-circuit breaker music. The song, which has a music video, is his tribute to black music, specifically the early blues of the Mississippi Delta.

His other post-circuit breaker work - The Clouds Are Bleeding, And We All Can't Breathe - consists of electric guitar improvisations which he dubs "the most intense instrumental album I've ever recorded".

The other three albums have works created before the circuit breaker. The improvised songs in Your Word In My Heart are inspired by words from the Bible's Book of Psalms and dedicated to his 88-year-old mother, Madam Tan Phaik In.

The other two albums are The Beauty, Metamorphosised, which features improvised songs styled like a "long musical narrative poem" and A New Heaven And New Earth, an electric-guitar offering inspired by the Bible's Book Of Revelations.


2 ELECTRONIC/POP/DANCE

AWE

The Analog Girl

Hear it on: Spotify, Apple Music and other music streaming platforms

Watch it on YouTube here.

Singer, songwriter and electronic musician The Analog Girl took four years to record her fifth and latest album, Awe.

The artist, whose real name is Mei Wong, says the songs were inspired by theme songs from 1970s and 1980s television shows such as comedy/drama The Love Boat (1977 to 1987), as well as acts such as disco veteran Gloria Gaynor and dance-pop icon Kylie Minogue.

"I really just wanted to make tracks that I could dance to and fall in love with all at the same time," she says, adding that tracks such as Your Mind, Devotion and How revolve around feelings of love and attraction.


3 POP/ELECTRONIC

I WAS DUMB BUT NOW IM WOKE

Keat

Hear it on: Spotify, Apple Music and other music streaming platforms

Watch it on YouTube here.

Singer-songwriter and electronic producer Keat's debut EP, I Was Dumb But Now Im Woke, includes his latest single, Good Friend. The song is a collaboration with Zionn, who is also the EP's primary producer and music director.

"In many ways, the final single embodies much of what this EP is about: A message of self-love and liberation and also a chronicle of the growth I've made as an artist and a person through my personal experiences in love," Keat says.

"It's been quite a crazy journey, and my most important anchors came in the form of the people I've been privileged to call my friends."

Keat is among the budding young talents who are part of National Arts Council's Noise Music Mentorship Programme 2020 and was mentored by home-grown musician, DJ and producer Kaye.


4 EXPERIMENTAL/AVANT GARDE/ROCK

AUTHORITY IS ALIVE

Haino Keiji & The Observatory

Hear it on: ujikaji.bandcamp.com and theobservatory.bandcamp.com

Watch it on YouTube here.

Authority Is Alive is a new collaborative album by Japanese avant-garde and psychedelic music veteran Keiji Haino and Singapore experimental band The Observatory. The tracks were recorded live at the 2019 edition of Playfreely, a series of concerts presented by The Observatory that features Asian experimental music artists.

Their joint performance was unannounced and spontaneous, with Haino ad-libbing from a self-written poem and playing guitar, accompanied by The Observatory members Dharma and Yuen Chee Wai on guitars and Cheryl Ong on drums.

Both the vinyl and digital versions of the album are on sale through record label Ujikaji and The Observatory's Bandcamp pages.


5 JAZZ

REFLECTIONS

Evolution Quartet

Hear it on: Spotify, Apple Music and other music streaming platforms

Watch it on YouTube here.

Cheryl Ann Spencer (above). PHOTO: CHERYL ANN SPENCER MUSIC

Reflections is the debut album by Evolution Quartet, a jazz band comprising pianist Cheryl Ann Spencer, drummer Tamagoh on drums, flautist Rit Xu and double bass player Fabian Lee. New York-based trumpeter Alex Sipiagin also performs as a guest artist.

Spencer, who used to work in the banking industry, says: "We are really thrilled to be able to launch this album as it is a culmination of our efforts from playing together, embarking on the creative process and exploring the idea of original compositions.

"We love jazz and really hope we can contribute to Singapore's jazz scene, making it more conducive for everyone to enjoy, appreciate and even learn about this genre of music."

The six original compositions include Evolution, inspired by the Singapore Botanic Gardens' Evolution Garden, and My Papa, an ode to Spencer's late father, Mr Teo Chin Huat, former president of the Singapore Music Teachers Association.

The album also includes a rendition of My Favourite Things, a classic from the 1959 musical film The Sound Of Music .


PHOTO: GENERAL LEE/ YOUTUBE

6 ROCK/FOLK

REVISITING THE BALLAD OF BUKIT BROWN

General Lee x Laremy Lee

Hear it on: Spotify, Apple Music and other music streaming platforms

Watch it on YouTube here.

Rock 'n' roll quartet General Lee team up with writer Laremy Lee (above, centre) for Revisiting The Ballad Of Bukit Brown, an updated version of a song that first appeared on their eponymous 2016 album. The tune pays tribute to the cemetery known as the resting place of some of Singapore's pioneers.

The video features Lee reading out Revisiting, a poem he penned in response to the song. The poem is written in the Twin Cinema form, where its two columns are halved down the middle and can be read separately or together.

Footage of both contemporary and old Singapore is shown in the video, exploring the tension between conservation and progress.


7 POP/SOUL

PERIBADIMU

Huda

Hear it on: Spotify, Apple Music and other music streaming platforms

Watch it on YouTube here.

Singer-actress Huda, a contestant on Singapore Idol 3, has released a music video for her single Peribadimu (Your Personality).

Inspired by the fragrances of bergamot, geranium, ylang ylang and patchouli, the song topped local radio station Ria 89.7FM's for four weeks when it dropped in March.

The single, released by local music company Mosta Records, was mastered by Bill Skibbe from Third Man Mastering, an American studio run by multi-Grammy winning rocker Jack White.


8 DEATH METAL/CRUST PUNK

BENT BENEVOLENCE

Offset

Hear it on: Spotify, Apple Music and other music streaming platforms

Watch it on YouTube here.

Deathpunk quartet Offset recorded their four-track EP, Bent Benevolence, live at TNT Studio, which has been a haven for home-grown underground bands since the 1990s.

Besides the digital editions, the band have also put out vinyl copies in three colours - baby blue, hot pink and black - sold through their Bandcamp page. The cover features artwork by Japanese manga artist Shintaro Kago.


9 ELECTRONIC/EXPERIMENTAL

SMOKESCREEN

George Chua

Hear it on: Spotify, Apple Music and other music streaming platforms

Watch it on YouTube here.

Electronic and experimental musician George Chua, whose music dates back to the 1990s, is back with a new album, Smokescreen.

His inspiration for the post-techno songs range from French philosopher Paul Virilio to characters from wuxia films. One of the songs, Neo Punggol, features a music video directed by new media artist Yeyoon Avis Ann.


10 SOUL/POP

FUTURE ME + U

Dru Chen

Hear it on: Spotify, Apple Music and other music streaming platforms

Watch it on YouTube here.

An ode to long-lasting love, singer-songwriter Dru Chen's romantic ballad Future Me + U merges the warmth of classic soul-pop with modern stylings.

The tune is about "the lifetime commitment of putting one's faith in another", he says. "The consistent thread throughout all of my music has been a focus on groove and soulful singing, but this latest single ups the ante in modern sonic quality and lyric writing."

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on October 01, 2020, with the headline Ode to love and discovery. Subscribe