Singapore based alternative folk-pop singer-songwriter KHAi has unveiled a new song ‘Wanderlust’. The stripped down lyrics in the new track centres around the ups and downs of life and comes ahead of his debut EP ‘Strange[r]’, which will be released on July 17.

Drawing inspiration from Lewis Watson, Bruno Major, Nick Wilson and Damien Rice, KHAi recreates the soul and life of their music and gives it his personal touch. His lyrics, stripped down, centres around the ups and downs of life; the ebb and flow of emotions. With his smooth vocals and instrumentally divergent melodies, the singer-songwriter paints his emotions sonically for his listeners.

The new EP will also include previously released tracks, ‘Small Talk’ and ‘Victoria’. The latter track was released a year ago, making the track’s first anniversary with a new accompanying music video to be available on Youtube on the same day as the EP release, and closing the chapter to this EP.

‘Strange[r]’ is a conceptual 6-Track EP put together by KHAi. With the first track, ‘Strange’, and the final track ‘Stranger’, KHAi intends to shed light onto his own perspective of love – that it inevitably ends one way or another. The anticipated EP is KHAi’s own way of leaving a trail of unanswered questions behind, in hopes of self-discovery, self-love and acceptance. 

Says KHAi,

“I stand by the belief that we all need to learn how to embrace the pain that comes with a failed romantic relationship. This EP serves as a personal memo of tunes embodying the anxieties and excitements of falling in and out of love.”

Aptly expressing the spirit of the EP, the single ‘Wanderlust’ encompasses the chaos of KHAi’s emotional state not only in the lyrics, but sonically in the production as well.

He continues,

“This track was home produced, so there were a number of ‘mistakes’ that made its way onto the track, simply because it gave the unsettling feeling we all know very well when we’re fragile.”

A couple of weeks before the unveiling of ‘Wanderlust’, KHAi took to Instagram to release six short Instagram videos which featured folks sharing and talking about their past break-ups. 

The result is a series of short but very moving anecdotes from strangers who we suddenly somehow feel very connected to, much like KHAi’s songs.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CBiJd8wl8fu/

Indeed, as we listen to the ‘Wanderlust’ and allow it to take us on a journey, it feels as if we are lightly ascending on a magical airship that dives through clouds, before the rolling emotions take their course and we are caught in the storm. The instrumental layers twirl at our heartstrings, as we glide further and fall faster with every heartbeat.

Listen to the new song below and let us know what you think.

Follow KHAi on Facebook and Instagram for more updates on his music.

Cover photo by: Andre Yeo