I completely forgot to schedule this, let’s all pretend I posted this on time on 31 August 2023 ok? :’)
It’s Malaysia’s Independence Day today and National Day on 16 September! Independence Day is when Peninsular Malaysia first broke away from the British colonies, National Day is when we joined up with Sabah and Sarawak (East Malaysia) to become one country. Here’s a jazzy cover I arranged of “Tanah Pusaka”, one of our patriotic songs.
31 August also marks the one-year anniversary I started my solo trip to Europe. It was my first big solo trip, and I started writing instrumental compositions inspired by each city I visited. I hope to work on that more once I’ve released my EP. (Here’s me playing a work-in-progress on the piano at my Airbnb in Madrid.)
I wish I could say I finally had some time to breathe and process the last couple of months, but nope. Even though work has slowed down for now, there’s still a lot of admin work to catch up on. I’m also stressed on a personal level because I was hoping to fly to Canada for my bestie’s sister’s wedding at the end of the month but my visa hasn’t been approved yet. I might not be able to go at all if IRCC doesn’t get back to me by the end of the week. Formula 1 is back in town and although that week is always fun, it’s also been getting increasingly tiring for me as I grow older. The tickets are also getting more and more expensive…
The questions in this drop’s subtitle are questions asked to me by my friends recently. “What do you do for fun?” was in response to me talking about how busy and tired I’ve been since I started my new job. It was somewhat of a punch in the gut when I couldn’t answer and I realised I hadn’t been doing anything for leisure (other than scroll too long on my phone…) that I truly enjoyed. I haven’t been able to watch movies, binge any new series, or even follow F1 live since June. “What are your dreams?” was in response to hearing that I’d given up on pursuing music as a career. My dream used to be pursuing music as a career, but now I don’t know anymore. The realisation that I might be growing out of things I used to enjoy led me to think… maybe I’m also growing out of having dreams?
{ 3 drops of golden sound }
Featuring an all-Malaysian line-up!
Chapters (Deluxe) by Yuna
(favourite track: “Too Close”)
This album is still my favourite of Yuna’s and the one I keep coming back to. Other than that hesitant feeling when you first start crushing on someone, it also captured the feelings of insecurity and loneliness I went through during college (and still have now) through songs like “Time”, “Best of Me”, “Places to Go” and “All I Do”. I’m planning to mash “Too Close” up with “Delicate” and “Wildest Dreams” by Taylor Swift at some point, maybe when Reputation (Taylor’s Version) is announced.
“Lepaskan” by Hullera
My high school friend Deena does the coolest events in our hometown via Ipoh Social Club. One of the videos they posted featured this song and I immediately loved the laidback rock instrumentals mixed with rap-like vocals. The chorus could be an affirmative mantra - “Lepaskanlah segalanya yang bukan milikmu.” - “Let go of everything that isn’t yours.”
“童話” (“Fairy Tale”) by Michael Wong (光良)
Michael is one of my hometown’s most famous celebrities, another is Michelle Yeoh. Also, it was his birthday yesterday! Michael is known as the Mandopop Prince of Love Songs and this ballad is his biggest hit. It was always a popular choice for school singing competitions and hearing it always brings me back to those days when things were simpler.
If you’ve made it this far, thank you for reading and I hope you’ll be here again at the end of next month! Also, I’d love to hear what you do for fun and what your dreams are (if any). Lastly, here’s a picture from my hometown Ipoh. 🏞
LoL,
rae
Oh no, that work in progress video link is broken :(