by Jonah Evans (@jonahinthesnow)
Subsonic Eye’s fifth album is here. The Signaporian band has been producing full-length albums since 2017. Their very first record, Strawberry Feels, holds a mode of dissonant, melancholic, expansive, stretching guitar sounds and tones that gear towards shoegaze with jazzy beats. This record, Singapore Dream, is a notable contrast, as the guitars have similarly enjoyable effects, albeit in a different way, because they are consistently light, quick, and feathery. The songs are a bit faster-paced. There is a strong thread of their identity throughout their albums.
Opener and lead single “Aku Cemas” wastes no time presenting this light-footed and bubbly energy with a bending bass riff. Vocalist Nur Wahidah has a sharp voice that changes speeds while harmonizing with the instruments and displays a unique melodic projection throughout the opening track. It's nice to take in right out of the gate. When the chorus of “Aku Cemas” comes in, suddenly the bass becomes prominent, while Wahidah and the guitars switch their melodies and harmonies, and the song feels like a big warm hug.
This album has multiple facets of existence that include this warmth and incorporate existential thought, fear, and joy. For instance, in the song “Sweet,” the guitars are spaced out, and Wahidah’s vocals are soft with drawn-out lyrics, giving the song’s verse this beautiful, spacy, ambling sensation. Some of the drawn-out lyrics are “Swinging / calls me / playfully / leading me,” and it feels swinging and playful. The song is free, and so is the singer in this instance.
In contrast, “Why Am I Here” starts with a calm refrain, then speeds up and feels urgent. Wahidah sings a list of things to do and observations such as, “This struggle,” “Handling this city,” “how can I function feeling this useless,” and “grocery list,” “running around.” A line that particularly stood out was “my value / measured in net worth / captured in IG / how can I afford this?” The song's pace contains a sensation of driving forward or moving along, or trying to get through this, with the guitars containing little space between their riffs and melodies, pairing with the tension of what Wahidah is singing about. The refrain from the beginning comes multiple times in the during the song before the guitars and drums slow down again, giving Wahidah space to sing “yeah I can do this.”
On “My iPhone Screen,” the drums dominate, insisting on a fast, taut beat. Guitar riffs play on sharp notes which have a quick bending sound, pulling at the tension that technology pulls on us. The first verse is, “I’m just / scrolling on / feeling nothing better / no I just know that I am healing, healing, healing / now I’m just used to being on this routine I was glued to.” matching the frenetic, awesome energy of the song. “My iPhone Screen” ends with the instruments slowly wobbling, almost lost, calling back notes from the chorus, which feels like the exhaustion and confusion that our phones actually give us.
“Brace” holds a shoegaz-y feel, finding Subsonic Eye returning to those darker tones of earlier records, only with a faster pace. The song wains and breathes beautiful melodies and potent lyrics related to searching for a feeling of connection. “Being Productive” has a lovely single-note guitar melody that starts the song alongside the full band, setting up a killer verse where the guitar cuts out completely, leaving a large space for the bass, drums, and vocals to march alone and suck you in. That particular verse sets the tone of all the different colors and contrasting sounds of “Being Productive,” which makes it a juicy, almost a 90s-sounding, rustic and textured song.
With Singapore Dream, Subsonic Eye has created another record that explores and champions both the self and the sound. The songs on this record are incredibly layered and honest. As Subsonic Eye continue on their journey, their musical explorations and propensity for meditation and conversation only becomes more self-evident.