In this new series, we showcase the best local musicians and bands in Singapore who are shaping the Singapore Sound. This week, we present the amazing technicolour dreamcoat of The Sam Willows
Pop music has many different faces now. DJ duo, The Chainsmokers, brought the dance music crossover full circle – with EDM-infused songs making most of what you hear these days. Acts like Beyonce and Kendrick Lamar have successfully balanced how music serves as a personal reflection on social justice and maintaining appeal to the mainstream crowd. And the standard pop acts like Katy Perry and Miley Cyrus are constantly reinventing themselves and their sound.
The thing they all have in common is the ability to tap on trends and fine-tune their music to it. Cue culture vultures, The Sam Willows, poster child(ren) of Singapore pop. Everyone knows The Sam Willows. And The Sam Willows seem to know what everyone wants to hear.
From acoustic folk-hued music, the band has evolved to embrace new styles, instruments, genres and direction by keeping up with musical trends. This allowed the band to progress, and also not deviate too much from their roots in pop. And it’s as if the band is uncannily well-read in pop culture, fine-tuning even their aesthetic cues to what is most prevalent now.
The video for the new track “Keep Me Jealous” is an amalgamation of that EDM fusion sound (the song was co-produced by Swedish producer, Fredrik Häggstam, who was responsible for a track by The Chainsmokers), the on-trend use of colour-clashing ’80s aesthetics with the hypebeast cinematic treatment, and the urban-meets-sports-luxe fashion on display – basically it’s everything that is #trending. Keeping up with trends is hard work, and The Sam Willows has delivered yet again.
But trends pass and the pop art aesthetics are on the cusp of expiry; people are beginning to be okay with hating The Chainsmokers – does their repurposing of trends need to be timelier? I think yes. Still, props to The Sam Willows – they’ve gone through all their phases without ever losing the Pop label – and why should they? They’ve earned it.
For more updates on The Sam Willows, check out their Facebook. Also for essential listening: “Take Heart” and “All Time High”.
And if you want more homegrown tunage, discover these new local musicians in Singapore that we’ve rounded up. Otherwise, check out these best concerts in May if you just want your live music fix.