Singaporean singer-songwriters Charlie Lim and Linying released duet single titled “Hummingbird” not too long ago. The track is about trying to muster the courage to believe in something new, despite our tendencies to repeat past mistakes.
“I was working on ‘CHECK-HOOK’ and had a sketch that didn’t seem to fit that album, but felt it had potential to be an interesting duet,” Charlie explains. “I’ve always loved Lin’s writing and thought her voice would be great for this tune, so I reached out to her for help.”
“Ethereal” and “dreamy” comes to mind when listening to Charlie’s soulful vocals and Linying’s smooth delivery blend seamlessly. The collaboration came about when Charlie decided to revisit the track and reached out to the songstress to co-write the song together.
“I came to her at the time where my parts as well as the song’s arrangement were already fleshed out, and just let her fill in the blanks. The brief I gave her was pretty silly; it was basically just me asking her whether she had ever been in a relationship where her partner seems to have it all together and you’re still trying to figure it out, and she was like ‘oh my god’. And I guess our commiseration spurred the writing process,” he told Bakchormeeboy.
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Thanks to Universal Music Malaysia, here are 8 questions with the talented artist:
1. “Hummingbird” is effortlessly calm and honest. What’s the inspiration behind the song?
To me the song is about trying to find the courage to believe in something new, despite our tendencies to repeat past mistakes. It’s also about how exhausting it can be to always stay cautiously optimistic, but we all know it’s the only way forward.
2. The track is a collab with Linying. How did this collab happen?
I’ve always loved Lin’s writing so I reached out to her for help. We’ve known each other for some time now and have worked and performed together before, but never really in a co-writing sort of capacity so I’m glad this opportunity presented itself.
3. Where’s the inspiration behind the track name?
I’ve always liked hummingbirds, and I was trying to work it in as a metaphor somehow. “I hope my heart can keep up” became the main refrain, and I got Lin to write around that for her own verse.
4. How did you came up with the lyric music video visualizer?
I worked with Anita Lester on it, she’s an amazing artist and musician who also did my last animated music video for “Bitter”. I’ve always been a big fan of Hokusai and Japanese artists from the Edo print era, and wanted to incorporate the artwork somehow in a video, and she basically brought their art to life in this video.
5. How do you describe your genre?
I guess you can call it pop music that’s soulful and a little more intricate and introspective. It’s slightly left of centre, but still accessible.
6. Which artists inspire you the most?
I’m a big fan of James Blake, Sampha, Frank Ocean and St. Vincent and I look up to them the most. I grew up listening to more contemporary singer-songwriters like Jeff Buckley, Damien Rice, Regina Spektor, John Mayer as well as bands like Radiohead and Silverchair. But I got into a lot of neo-soul and R&B during my uni days, and fell in love with artists like D’Angelo, Lauryn Hill, Erykah Badu and J Dilla.
7. If you were to describe yourself to a stranger in 3 words what would be those words?
Painfully self-aware? (laughs)
8. A few words to your Malaysian fans?
I really appreciate the love and hope to be back in Malaysia soon to play for you guys. I know it’s a tough time for everybody right now but let’s do what we can to support each other.
To stream more of Charlie Lim’s music, click here.
