Linying and Charlie Lim, two equally talented local musicians collaborate for the first time with Hummingbird, a work that allowed them to explore their creative strengths freely and create a tune about “muster[ing] the courage to believe in something new, despite our tendencies to repeat past mistakes”.
The inspiration behind the album artwork comes from Jovian Lim, a close friend of Linying’s who managed to capture the perfectly imperfect shot. Something that was a “little bit gloomy, a little bit beautiful”, exactly what Hummingbird is a about. She elaborates that the song is inspired by an invisible barrier that sometimes stops you from savouring all life has to offer despite all the beauty that is around. As with life’s journey, when Jovian embarked on the photoshoot, he didn’t know know what they were looking for, roamed aimlessly and eventually captured the perfect outdoor moment whilst wondering, sweating and swatting flies. They finally settled on the mood and the lighting of the shoot – melancholic.
Linying lets us in on the characteristics that have shaped her past, present and shares her strategies on overcoming negative thought patterns.
Popspoken: For friends who knew you from childhood – what is the one thing they would say has stayed the same from then till now?
Linying: My intensity for food. I go quite insane when I’ve discovered something I really like, and it’s all I’ll think about at meals and talk about at meals, and when I’m having a craving, I really go off the rails. I start making separate plans with different friends on different days just to go to the same place again and again. Sometimes I cancel plans just to go eat the thing I want to eat alone, and that’s when my friends marvel at my intensity and insanity. I always thought I’d grow out of it, but it hasn’t seemed to happen yet.
Popspoken: What are some negative “patterns” that occur in your every day life and how do you gain the self-awareness to transcend them?
Linying: I definitely have a habit of getting absorbed in my own personal suffering, and I often catastrophise every little negative feeling. I know it’s what makes me so acutely aware of my feelings and therefore able to document them in song, but it’s also silly because I objectively know that it’s really a result of losing perspective, and of not paying enough attention to the gratitude that I do have and should have for the life I’ve been given. I’m practising being more aware of it, and trying to catch myself when I feel myself spiralling.
Popspoken: More often than not, women suffer from “imposter syndrome” as compared to men. What are your personal strategies to overcome this?
Linying: Do they? I didn’t know this! I would think the opposite! I don’t really have a personal strategy to overcome it. I experience imposter syndrome as a fleeting moment under a lot of external stimuli or stress, not a trait or a lasting mindset that I carry with me. It goes as fast as it comes. Just got to wait it out.
The lyric video will be released at 6pm today, featuring art by multidisciplinary artist Anita Lester and manipulated artwork from renowned Japanese printmaker-era artists Koho Shoda, Hokusai, Kawase Hasui, and Hiroshi Yoshida.
Featured image credit : Jovian Lim / Universal Music Pte Ltd
==
Stay updated and social with Popspoken: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram
