While we all love our Sam Smiths, Kpop, and EDM, we should also appreciate local music – some of our artists are fast becoming mainstays on Spotify. Here are some established as well as brand new artists with their latest singles you should add to your Spotify list.
Jasmine Sokko
Queen of Asian electro-pop scene Jasmine Sokko needs no introduction. She kicks off 2021 with a massive bang with her English single – the first taken from the forthcoming as-yet-titled English EP due out later in 2021. Produced and co-written entirely online with collaborators across Singapore, New York, Los Angeles, and London, her latest single “MEDUSA” is tonally darker and dancier with a strong statement of intent, signalling a newly evolved era of Jasmine Sokko.
Watch Jasmine Sokko’s MV of “MEDUSA”:
Gentle Bones
Joel Tan, who goes by his stage name Gentle Bones, is one of the city-state’s top artists, and has collaborated with many popular Singaporean acts, including MYRNE, Benjamin Kheng, Charlie Lim, and Tay Kewei. His latest collaboration is a regional one: with popular Filipino singer-songwriter Clara Benin – they worked 100% online for their latest single.
Catch the laid-back vibes and enchanting vocals of Gentle Bones and Clara Benin’s collab “A Day At A Time”:
Amanda Ong
Singaporean indie-folk singer-songwriter Amanda Ong’s latest single features equal parts of jazz and funk, and introspection. Her songs seek to soothe listeners struggling with mental health issues. Written a day before her birthday, the lyrics perpetuate the hope for a (literal) better tomorrow amidst overwhelming sentiments of dejection.
Listen to her latest single, “Leave Me Alone”:
Iman Fandi
She may be known to the public as Fandi Ahmad’s only daughter, but this model, actor, and athlete is now flexing her singer-songwriter skills. This 20-year-old is fast dominating the media industry, proving that nothing is off limits for the multi-hyphenate.
Hear Iman’s electro-pop debut single and music video, “Timeframe”:
ShiGGa Shay
Rapper ShiGGa Shay’s first single of 2021 is an upbeat bop – and it’s also one of his rare love songs. Conceptualised in Los Angeles in 2019, it’s a collaboration with Korean-American Hip-Hop and R&B Artist Jay Park who “wrote his parts within 20 minutes”.
Check out his latest single’s official MV of “uRight”, which features Jay Park and ShiGGa at the iconic MBS:
jaye
jaye’s sound can be described as alt-pop with some hip-hop, jazz and indie motifs – he started off as part of a local folk-rock duo before becoming a DJ. Bittersweet and gossamer delicate, his latest single is a product of jaye’s insomnia and how it affected his wife on the many nights she stayed up till he fell asleep.
Check out jaye’s latest single, “Stay up till I sleep”:
Nathan Hartono
Nathan needs no introduction – since winning a singing competition over a decade ago, he has gone on to release three albums. As a bilingual artist, Nathan released his debut Mandarin EP, Do Nothing Day《什么都不做的一天》in September 2020.
Nathan’s brand-new electro-pop English single, “I’m Fine” – mixed and produced by Singaporean EDM artist MYRNE – is taken from his forthcoming EP, slated for late 2021.
