By Keith Walsh
Despite the misfortunes of Terrible 2020, there are many redeeming qualities to our present age. Were it not for digital technology that makes a laptop into a studio, and the endless inspiration of artists, we couldn’t lose ourselves in the blend of 60s psychedelia, 80s synthpop, and electronic mysticism such as is found in the music of Mei Wong, aka The Analog Girl.
Hailing from Singapore, The Analog Girl has been creating mesmerizing, minimalistic electronic music for about 15 years, getting critical acclaim from the start. Her latest single, “Feeling Light,” captures the spirit of her reflective, trippy approach that’s heavily influenced by the 80s while creating a space that is very much of the present day.
The track, mastered at New Jersey’s Sterling Sound by Randy Merrill, “Feeling Light” is a hybrid of Eastern mysticism and electronica that employs what sounds very much like a TR-808 snare drum, and a pulsing analog bass, and some trip hoppy drum and bass techniques. (Rather than list Merrill’s accomplishments, here’s a link that tells all: https://sterling-sound.com/engineer/randy-merrill/ )
As Wong explains, he’s “worked on some of my favourite records including Beck’s Hyperspace, Mark Ronson’s Late Night Feelings, and an inspiration for the new single – Lorde’s ‘Melodrama.’”
The track’s minimal lyrics tell a story, but there’s much more to it. “This track was actually written 3 years ago soon after my last album was released!” says Wong. “The music and vibe was much influenced by Lorde’s ‘Green Light’ as that was the video I was obsessed with at that time. So I wanted to make a dynamic pop song that you could dance to, but with an edge.” Wong says that after hearing Merrill’s work with Lorde, that she decided to recruit him. The Analog Girl’s previous album, 2017’s “Golden Sugar Crystals” was an exciting return to the scene, while “Feeling Light” was written around that time.
I imagined that perhaps the new song was written with the isolation of the current pandemic in mind, but Wong dispelled any such notion. “Lyrics wise, the verse was written like it has been 3 years since my last release and here I am back on the scene. For the chorus, it turns into ‘feeling right, feeling light’ – coz the words just came to me as I was writing the melody, and it is about feeling light in both the mental state and visual state. And I guess it is pretty apt for times like these :)”
“Feeling Light” is the lead single from The Analog Girl’s upcoming full length release, “Awe,” which will be a welcome source of fun in this fun challenged age, as it is inspired by songs of Gloria Gaynor, Kylie Minogue, and with the influence of 70s and 80s TV theme songs.
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