“…jolts the listener with abrupt mood changes and hypnotizes with Eugenia Yip’s sensual vocals.”
EARMILK
“The cool collective present a sound that is rarely heard.”
The Music Network
FRIDAY 7 AUGUST 2020 – What happens when you’re out of tape? Singapore nu-jazz band The Steve McQueens have dropped their 6-track EP Tape Ends. The experimental release treads a fine line between jazz, soul, and all-out chaos. Explaining the EP’s title, the group says “tape obfuscates, hides. Tape repairs, heals. Tape records, history. Tape ends.”
While technical at times, the songs on Tape Ends are volatile, taking sharp detours into the physical beyond. Especially evocative is “Never Not”, a song inspired by the tale of Hindu Goddess Akhilandeshwari. Translated from Sanskrit, her name is commonly referred to as “she who is never not broken”. Eugenia Yip, the band’s vocalist, says: “The song explores the idea that the Goddess exists everywhere and lives in the parts of us that feel broken. It’s within these cracks that bridges form, connecting who we are to who we are becoming.”
Releasing through Singapore-based indie label Umami Records, The Steve McQueens’ daring EP features previously unreleased tracks from their 2018 ‘TAPE’ tour, where they played shows across Singapore and Japan including the Tokyo Jazz Festival.
Facing 2020’s tumultuous times with their unpredictable nu-jazz form, the four-piece are currently penning their next album, The Observer. Slated for release in 2021, The Observer pokes at the culture clash between jazz traditionalists and the new vanguard. “The Observer is an indifferent spectator who stands apart,” says the band. “He smiles quietly to himself and continues making his own music.”
Listen to them on this link: https://www.umamirecords.sg/tape-ends/
Tracklist:
- Firefly
- Almost Like Being in Love
- Cosmic Terrain 2.0
- Never Not
- Rust
- Go To Sleep
The Steve McQueens
Eugenia Yip (vocals), Joshua Wan (keys), Jase Sng (bass) and Anson Koh (drums).
The Steve McQueens refuse to be pedestrian; they don’t live in the transient or the touch-and-go. Swerving between cool seduction and gripping magnetism, they are ambitious to light the world up with their progressive brand of nu-jazz.
They have moved audiences internationally at Tokyo Jazz Festival and Summersonic (Japan), Java Jazz (Indonesia), SingJazz (Singapore), Melbourne International Jazz Festival (Australia) and Jarasum International Jazz Festival (Korea).
The quartet formed in 2013 as a forging of four mercurial talents in Singapore, a small country punching above its weight in Southeast Asia’s music scene. Critically acclaimed, The Steve McQueens will leave an indomitable mark on any listener with their music.