Breaking Down Guitarist Hotei’s Collaborative Album ‘Soul to Soul,’ Feat. Artists From Around the Globe Billboard 1/30/2021
Last November, Japan’s Hotei dropped his new collaborative album,
Soul to Soul, featuring a roster of international artists who joined the veteran rocker remotely from their respective locations to work together on the project.
The impressive list includes Jean-Paul “Bluey” Maunick of Incognito (U.K.), Zucchero (Italy), Nate Smith (U.S.A.), Calogero (France), Marc Lavoine (France), Carlinhos Brown (Brazil), and Yang Kun (China), plus top acts from Hotei’s home country, namely Kazuya Yoshii of THE YELLOW MONKEY, GLIM SPANKY, Kobukuro, and Kiyoshi Hikawa.
Credit: Cross Ratio Entertainment
Charlie Lim has released a music video for his new single with Aisyah Aziz, âWonât You Come Aroundâ.
The duet by the two Singaporeans, which features lyrics in English and Malay, was released last Friday (January 22). The music video, which dropped Monday (January 25), was directed by Jonathan Choo, who last worked with Lim on the music video for âWelcome Homeâ.
The âWonât You Come Aroundâ video features Lim and Aisyah each singing their parts of emotive track through the night and into the dawn â and ends with the duo meeting on a couch by the beach. Watch it below.
Popspoken
Sign off from an eventful year with these handpicked numbers from 2020’s closing months and crank it up for a socially-distanced celebration, fueled by new music from home. Happy New Year from the Popspoken family; to more fire tracks in 2021.
1. While I Can by JJ Lin
Earlier this Fall, crown prince of Mandopop
JJ Lin announced the release of his duo-dimensional album
“Drifter/Like You Do”, accompanied by a virtual listening party that called upon familiar faces like
Jam Hsiao,
“Drifter”, while
“Like You Do” is expected to be released early next year. On the forthcoming album,
“While I Can” is a track that upholds the album concept, debating the fine line between dreams and reality, and the existence of a parallel universe. “While I Can” hits all the right notes, opening in an electronic dream as the popstar croons and alternating between tranquil beat drops and acoustic breakdown. The tune is as easy on the ears as its music video is on
L-R: Sezairi, Charlie Lim, Benjamin Kheng. Credits: Press, Lee Chang Ming, Press
For the past nine months, Sezairi has felt jobless. The Singaporean singer-songwriter has completed a record while in quarantine, and kept fans fed with the odd cover video and livestream show. But he hasnât been able to do what he does best.
Like hundreds of other entertainers in the country, the singer-songwriter hasnât performed to a live audience ever since the coronavirus pandemic forced the closure of venues and a moratorium on mass events.
âIâve been performing since I was 17 years old,â he tells
NME. âItâs the only job Iâve ever had. So this year has been kinda weird.â