Friday, September 27, 2019

'in metanoia' :: The Color Fractal


Having missed The Color Fractal's 'in metanoia' EP launch gig at the Esplanade Outdoor Theatre, I was happy to hear The Color Fractal play an acoustic set as a trio at Timbre X at The Substation. Titled 'in metanoia' (2019), three of the EP's songs were written and recorded when Weiwen Seah was in Boston. Earlier released singles 'twenty-three' and 'don't lose the plot' went into the EP too, and are familiar groovy tunes to us.

The Color Fractal is mostly and mainly singer-songwriter Weiwen Seah. For this acoustic show, he roped in his brother, Ze Wen Seah on the guitars, and his brother-in-law Jordan Cheng on drums. Besides playing all five songs from the EP, the short show included three other unreleased songs Weiwen has written, like 'Division' (about the US elections on November 8, 2016) and one more song about his feelings about Singapore as home (I forgot the song title). The band also covered Plainsunset's 'The River Song' (2009).

Such attention was paid to the recording and mastering of this EP. 'in metanoia' makes such easy listening. The songwriting is so strong. 'waiting room' is a great example of that. Catchy melodies, good bassline, bit of jazz, blues, funk, soul and rock. None of that electronic hip hop nonsense or whiny shit. Is this a good representation of Singapore music that vaguely sounds pop but it's really indie dream-pop? Oh yes. I would pimp out The Color Fractal in a heartbeat at music and arts festivals across every city.

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