PUBLISHED July 26th, 2013 02:24 am | UPDATED July 25th, 2024 03:20 pm
Lit Up 2013 is an independent arts festival that does not just refer to the genre classification (or rather, un-classification) of the art on display, it celebrates the flowering of art in Singapore. Judging from the crowd of theatre goers/ music lovers/ art appreciators that were there, one can see a new generation of people growing up to love and make art in all its forms. I loved Book Actually’s pop-up there, and an interesting presentation of their catalogue on the floor of a room (which made me marvel at the amount of literature peculiar to my country). With previous features here at City Nomads focusing on the visual arts and spoken word performances, which were by the way, varied, interesting, and thoroughly exciting, allow me to focus on the 3 acoustic acts who performed on Sunday afternoon at the courtyard – Dawn Fung, Jonathan Meur, and Hee Su Hui.
Dawn Fung
The cheery folkie is no stranger to the arts scene, having been an active participant of it even before she started making music 3 years ago with her beautiful debut The Last Morning. Catching her gigs is also something of an experience for its idiosyncrasies – she (or herhelpers at Umami Records) will give out flyers that she has designed herself, with the song list and some lyrics that she would appreciate the audience to sing along with her at certain junctures in her performance. Moreover, she likes to play little games with the audience, in particular the children. Today, it was in the form of a mix-and-match – filling in missing words to some lyrics in her gig flyer by finding it on cards placed on the ground in front of her. I would not go as far as to call it innovative, but there is always that desire to connect with the crowd in her own way that she is known for.
Onto her songs, she debuted a new song Sixteen, a number about the mirth experienced in youth, in between her material from her latest album In The Evening Sun and The Last Morning. Hearing familiar songs like Peace Like Rivers Falling had a calming effect as a listener; Family Song and Children of Spring seemed to be her song of choice for a crowd sing-along. There seemed to be some distraction from the experience as a listener from the buzz of theatre goers going in and out, but Dawn managed it well and was duly appreciated by members of the crowd afterward. A final idiosyncrasy: Dawn debuted her freshly pressed cassettes for The Last Morning at the merchandise booth – it was interesting to see the cassette still being appreciated for its format and artwork in this day and age.
Jonathan Meur
The busy bee of an artist has been exactly that for the past few months since his debut work Woodnotes was released. Going on a ‘mini-spring tour’ around local venues, I commented to him after that I have literally ‘seen him everywhere’ here. And coming to think of it, he might be the artist whose gigs I have caught the most often in Singapore, rather unintentionally for that matter. Aspiring artists, please take note – here’s a reference for commitment (despite holding a full-time job which is NOT EASY as an artist, trust me.)
His is a repertoire that I am well acquainted with. Disappointingly though, this time I was let down. Not because of his performance, but because of the poor location for the stage – it was set up in the middle of the courtyard where there was a buzz of people going about. Moreover, at one point the buzz was so loud that I could hardly hear him. He had noticed that as well and duly increased his volume, which allowed him to rise above the noise. All I can say is, I wished that there could have been better planning from the organisers about this; music should not just be relegated to the background, or as an afterthought. That said, he still impressed with his quirky and well-delivered folk like Islands, Telegram, and Strangers In Motion. I liked his explanation of Islands as being inspired by his homeland of Mauritius, and dedicating it to Mauritians (to the delight of a Mauritian friend who I hosting for the day and brought to Lit Up).
Hee Su Hui
This was honestly the surprise of the day – I felt that it made my trip to Lit Up worth it because it satisfied the music explorer in me. It’s that moment every music hunter loves: when you discover a new talent/sound and can’t wait to share it with others. My girlfriend who is an intrepid music lover herself gave the thumbs up, so I took it as a double confirmation of Su Hui’s talent.
In format, the thin singer is similar to Weish (aka Chew Wei Shan.) Both favour the use of looping progressions and riffs from various instruments to create interesting musical textures and solo performances. There are even similarities in the way they express their stage nerviness. Whilst the musicality of it is different, the comparisons will inevitably occur for the younger artist. That Su Hui uses the violin sets her apart in a sense, but that is only superficial. It would be wiser to say that the music I heard was refreshing for its balance of intensity and blitheness, and the arrangements in her songs are well thought out.
Interestingly, Su Hui prefers to keep things under wraps at the moment, only asking for my email for her mailing list when I asked about her Facebook Page. Time will mature her performances; for now she is an interesting act to watch and keep tabs on.
Lit Up would not have been possible without the contribution of time, boundless energy and dedication of those who participated- showing their work whether it be visual, performance, or musical. The organisers who are dedicated to providing a platform for the arts in Singapore, huge congratulations to Word Forward, Savinder Kaur, Marc Nair, Deborah Emmanuel, Joleen Loh and all those behind the scenes. And of course….you lot! For being there and supporting the rising stars in Singapore’s arts scene. Look forward to seeing you all again next year.