This review introduces a new artist for me. The single reviewed here is “Time to Heal,” which is the follow-up to “The Storm.” Both of these singles were pre-releases from an album called “Is This War?” which is due to arrive in January 2025.
I’m going to start with the press release and background information material:
As a child of Vietnamese war refugees, dark pop artist TI:YE deals with themes of transgenerational past, conflicts of culture and identity, trauma and healing. Her aspiration to give a voice to the unspeakable thereby developed into the fascinating complexity of her style. It combines sophisticated sound design, delicate piano playing, and subtly produced trip-hop beats into a profound work of art. TI:YEs voice strikes listeners in an almost uncanny way, allowing them to deeply empathise with her bitterness and accusation, sadness and hope. The project was created in collaboration with electronica artist Gavin Gabriel and producer Rolf Munkes and is one of the most exciting newcomer releases of 2024.
TI:YE Klara Truong grew up in Mannheim. She began classical piano training at the age of five and went on to achieve success in music competitions such as “Jugend musiziert.” She sang in choirs from an early age and taught herself guitar at the age of 14. At the same age, she began taking part in band projects and writing her own songs. She composes both on the piano and the guitar. As a creative artist, she is represented with various releases and projects in the music sector, most recently with her album “Parting Lights” of the indie pop project “Kiyo” (in cooperation with producer Rolf Munkes, released by 7music). She has been producing the majority of her songs herself since 2021.
My review:
I began with the previous release, “The Storm,” as I like to get some context for what I am listening to, and one track is often not enough! “The Storm” is synthesised techno-pop with a dreamy vocal delivery layered over the instrumentalisation. I really liked the chorus on it that kicks in at the 2.14 mark of the song. This section adds a rock groove to the melody and I was swept along with that section (she really got my attention at exactly that point); it kicked some ass there!
“Time to Heal” (video below) is more of a ballad than “The Storm.” Coming new to TI:YE, she vocally impresses; she has a definite emotive connection to her music and packs a vocal punch. The layered vocal harmonies work well and give a wild wind feel to the piece.
And there we are, interesting times ahead! I look forward to reviewing the album.
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You can stream the single and more from TI:YE here
By Lorraine Foley