Local musicians have released a slew of EPs over the last month. Alyph, a rapper, singer, and producer, breaks from collaborating with other artists to release his EP. Nathan Hartono and Jasmine Sokko, label mates, have both released new EPs inspired by pandemic life. Carpet Golf, a new moniker for a band comprised of various indie bands from around the country, makes their debut with an EP centered on toxic masculinity. The albums are available via streaming services such as Spotify, Apple Music, and Bandcamp.
Alyph, a rapper, singer, and beatmaker, delves into intimate portraits of betrayal, hope, and absolution on his three-track EP, III/III. The songs span genres, from ethereal R&B to trap. "It can't sound exactly like everything I'm hearing at the moment," he says of his motivation for creating music. Alyph first gained notoriety as a member of the hip-hop duo SleeQ. He is also known for producing hits for Singaporean and Malaysian artists. Alyph first gained notoriety as a member of the hip-hop duo SleeQ. He is also known for producing hits for Singaporean and Malaysian artists. The second artist, Jasmine Sokko's EP (photo), Snell's Law of Reflection, was inspired by her life over the last year. "Due to the pandemic, I've been forced to spend so much time alone that I'm unable to avoid confronting certain emotions and forming a new sense of self. Numerous songs on this EP deal with reflections "She clarifies. Six songs are included on the EP, including 25 (co-written with fellow Singaporean singer-songwriter Gentle Bones) and Magnet (sung in both English and Mandarin).
The third artist, Nathan Hartono's EP Edge Of Days is a self-described "random collection of sounds and feelings" inspired by life during a pandemic. "It was written during the year's first half, which was, to put it mildly, erratic. Life's rules were constantly changing, "he proclaims, "And I was bouncing between days, pausing and restarting, unable to establish a firm grip on anything, thus the moniker 'edge of days.' I will be eternally indebted to music for sustaining me. Additionally, you get to hear the outcome of it all." The Difference, a dreamy ballad produced by acclaimed Singaporean electronic music artist Myrne, and Simple, a song about coping with love's impossibility is among the album's tracks. The other Singaporean artist is Carpet Golf, a new band comprised of Subsonic Eye, The Neptune Waves, and Charm members. The title of their debut EP, Not As Good A Fisherman - Brock Lesnar Is A Man, reflects the quartet's eccentric outlook, and the songs address issues such as toxic masculinity. The album's lead single, Brock Lesnar, is named after the American-Canadian wrestler.
The jazz singer Joanna Dong's single is the first in a series of compositions inspired by the London Philharmonic Orchestra's performance of Russian composer Vladimir Martynov's Utopia Symphony. The symphony was commissioned in 2003 by Mr. Michael Tay, Singapore's then-ambassador to Russia. Dong collaborated with composer Chok Kerong on the song Utopia Reimagined: The First Chapter, which incorporates passages from the Tao Te Ching Taoist text. Mr. Tay founded the Foundation for The Arts and Social Enterprise, which is hosting the series. Subsonic Eye, a quintet specializing in indie rock/noise pop, has had a busy month. The band gained a global audience when they filmed KEXP (At Home), a Seattle radio station's online music series. Their first Malay songs, Dijangka (Expected) and Matahari (Sun) was also released as singles. The romantic lyrics were inspired by singer and lyricist Nur Wahidah's relationship with songwriter and guitarist Daniel Castro Borces.
Keyana, an 18-year-old singer-songwriter, has written a song titled Afterglow that is both uplifting and reflective. "In Afterglow, my inability to determine where I'm going, who I want to be, what I represent, and my fear of losing myself in the process becomes the central narrative of my current self," she explains. "However, while I am speaking to myself, a part of me reaches out and reminds me that I have always been the ideal woman. This conversation teaches me that if I embrace who I am and follow my heart through every step of this journey, I will develop into that ideal woman and experience my Afterglow." KakakAdik is a collaboration between two female rapper generations. It is a compound word that combines the terms for elder sister and younger sibling. Mawar Berduri is a great singer and rapper who rose to prominence in the early 2000s in Singapore and Malaysia as a member of the hip-hop trio Ahli Fiqir. Qis Maraj is a newcomer whose recent single Fatalis topped the local music charts on Mediacorp's Malay radio station ria897.