Singaporean singer-songwriter Jean Tan has released ‘Blooms’, an alternative sweet soul five-track EP. Accompanying the EP a week later is the lyric video to ‘All Things New (Blooms)’.
The EP includes already released singles, such as ‘Serenade’ and ‘Oak Cherry Wine’, as well as two new interpretations of her past songs as fitting bookends of the EP, ‘Everything I Love’ and ‘All Things New (Blooms)’.
The animation is done by Melbourne based musician, writer, painter and animator, Anita Lester. Anita has previously worked on Jean’s ‘Dandelion’ lyric video, as well as singer-songwriter Charlie Lim’s ‘Hummingbird’ and ‘Bitter’ lyric videos.
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“Only through the winter of Hideaway can we taste the spring of Blooms.”
Taken in the context of the singer-songwriter’s last EP ‘Hideaway’, which was written in a 7-year period of battling illness, this brand new EP, ‘Blooms’ rings in resounding assurance that for every time there is darkness and death, there is a time of light and rebirth which follows.
Also read: A heartfelt and inspiring interview with Jean Tan
Reminiscent to artists including Indie Folk and Soul crooners Lianne Le Havas and Norah Jones, the EP is mapped as a passage from dawn to dusk, starting with a fresh morning awakening with the focus single, ‘Everything I Love’ which was collaboratively written with prolific poet Felix Cheong. Charting through the noon day sun and its open sky in ‘Fly’ and eventually tuning down on a drowsy, love-soaked song and dance, ‘Oak Cherry Wine’ and finally ‘All Things New (Blooms)’.
The ending track is a sliver of newness after a period of stasis, a near-perfect reflection of the times we lived in. Inspired by Sylvia Plath’s poem, ‘Tulips’, the floral imagery does not seek to despair as it did in the original text, but instead reminds us that the withering is a sign of a bed of blooms to come. Seasons come and go, and the presence of winter gives sprint its meaning.
“I wanted to give the feeling of drifting off into the promise of another day, followed by another day, and another… I wanted listeners to understand that at the end of the day, people heal, systems are restored, we move forward as life resumes as it always will.”
With the release of ‘Blooms’ to wrap up the year, Jean Tan is currently working on releasing a remixed version of ‘Oak Cherry Wine’ as well as an accompanying music video on 15 January 2021.
Cover photo: Joss Yeo