6 local musicians to listen to while you’re at home

Bored at home during this circuit breaker period? Between Zoom workouts, incessant baking, copious amounts of Dalgona coffee and mind-numbing Netflix binges, you’re probably running out of things to do.

Here’s something: this is the perfect time for you to check out these talented home-grown musicians, which you may have heard of, but never had the luxury of time to sit down and listen to. Also, there really is no better time to #supportlocal.

1)  HAVEN

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The 16-year-old singer-songwriter is breaking frontiers. The young artiste, who is under the Academy of Rock Reach Programme, has recently released three new singles - one English song (BLUE) and two Mandarin songs with English rap lyrics (虚伪 Xu Wei, and 不知道 Bu Zhi Dao).   

Her English single BLUE is written and produced by producer, songwriter and rapper Zadon under AOR Global. The song features snappy guitar riffs with a catchy melody, as HAVEN croons about melancholy and being trapped inside one’s mind.

2) Shahrizal

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If you’re in one of those brooding moods, he is the artist to listen to. The singer-rapper’s song Just Tryna Get You has over 68,000 streams on Spotify, and is a mellow, lo-fi, heartfelt tune. He’s also a self-taught producer, meaning he mixes all his own songs. Talk about talent.

3) Linying

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One of our fave local sweethearts, Linying’s songs will strike a chord with those who prefer indie, folk-ish songs. Her song Sticky Leaves has over a whopping six million streams on Spotify. The purity and clarity of her voice gives the track an almost ethereal quality - it builds up, starting from a quiet hum and picking up tempo as the instrumental track crescendos. During an interview with Billboard, the 26-year-old said of the song: "I think there was a lot of disillusion and disappointment for me growing out of my teenage years and learning to live life out. The song was probably my way of coming to terms with it - acknowledging that there are things that you think should be but just aren't, and that there is, nevertheless, a worldly, fleshly, impermanent sort of beauty to living that's worth seeing even if without understanding."

4) Tabitha Nauser

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A woman of many talents, you may have seen her on the Netflix reality television series Singapore Social, or much earlier, when she won third place in the third edition of Singapore Idol in 2009, or when she was a DJ on 987FM. Her R&B single Bulletproof was #1 on Spotify’s "SG Viral 50" chart and #4 on the iTunes “SG Top Charts” in 2017.

5) RRILEY

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Sandra Riley Tang, first found fame as one fourth of The Sam Willows. She recently reinvented herself as solo artist RRILEY, and her debut single, Burn, released in 2019, is a bop if we ever heard one. It’s a catchy self-empowerment anthem for all the badass women out there. Fun fact: she co-directed her own music video.

6) Jasmine Sokko

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Jasmine Sokko has recently released two new singles - a Mandarin single in March (FEVER 退烧), and more recently in April, an English single (MESS). The 24-year-old electro-pop singer-producer who recently won a TV EMA win for Best Southeast Asia Act is best recognised by her trademark insignia - a blackmask covering half her face. Her Mandarin track FEVER 退烧 is an international collaboration: produced under Warner Music China, written in Stockholm, post-production touches done in Taipei, and lyric video shot in Bangkok. The song depicts a coming-of-age narrative where one realises that the recklessness of youth is nothing but a raging fever that has quelled over time.

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