About

A TAV Curator's Pick.

Stretched between acoustic melancholia, neo-soul, post-rock and electronic-pop – the extremities that mark Charlie Lim’s music, is a certain sense of cinematic gravitas that takes you on a sonic journey set against the rich narratives of life’s tales.

Charlie’s latest release, TIME/SPACE, is a double EP containing two collections of songs – with TIME reflecting his singer-songwriter sensibilities and SPACE a manifestation of his DIY approach to experimental pop production. It explores the gamut from darkness to light, sadness to joy – and like a slow inhale and exhale, is ultimately uplifting.

From the satirical ragtime-piano intro of the opening teaser ‘Blah Blah Blues’ and the apocalyptic alt-folk meltdown of ‘Bitter’ on TIME, to the dark electronic grooves and Prince-inspired vocals on ‘Conspiracy’ and the slow-burning cinematic closer ‘I Only Tell the Truth’ on SPACE, the record is a meticulous representation of Charlie’s inimitable artistic brooding. Even within its ambitious stylistic arc, the record never strays from being seamless and intimate in its storytelling, tied together by a delicate thread that is Charlie’s velvet vocal.

Within an hour of its release, TIME/SPACE clinched the top spot on the local iTunes chart, and his songs have reached more than 1.5 million plays on Spotify since. Singapore’s leading newspaper The Straits Times gave it a glowing review of 4.5/5 stars, and was also awarded Best Pop Album of 2015. Popular media outlets such as Time Out, TODAY, Bandwagon, Popspoken, Beehype, Honeycombers, and JUICE all considered the record as one of the Best Music Releases of the year.

The quintessential Charlie Lim experience ultimately lies in the live show. Whether as a solo act; or with his super-band The Mothership, Charlie sculpts a musical narrative so mesmerising that audiences often find themselves rudely jolted back into reality upon its conclusion.

Charlie’s music has since opened doors to the region’s biggest stages – with a 7-city tour across Asia, playing key festivals such as Mosaic Music Festival, The Gathering, Singapore International Jazz Festival, Clockenflap (Hong Kong), Java Jazz Festival (Indonesia), Urbanscapes (Kuala Lumpur), Jarasum Jazz Festival (Seoul) and Music Matters Live, alongside international artists such as Kimbra, Sigur Rós, BADBADNOTGOOD, Hiatus Kaiyote, Caribou, Ta-Ku, and Snarky Puppy.

Following two landmark, sold-out shows at The Mosaic Music Festival in 2014 – an achievement never claimed by a Singaporean artist – Charlie premiered TIME/SPACE at Singapore’s premier music venue, the 1,600-seat Esplanade Concert Hall; yet another first. – Press Release

Item description: