What do you do when you have a way with words (or more specifically, the ability to make people feel the feels), have an ability to conjure up atmospheric acoustic soundscapes and are able to write your own songs? What happens too when you’ve constantly been rejected by countless labels? Well, you do what Singapore-based Indonesian-American artist lullaboy does: independently release a song every month and then wrap it nicely into an titled “chapters of you”.
“From songs about crushes, to self worth, to regret to filial and spiritual needs, “chapters of you” represents a photobook that I’m showing a significant other, but I also hope it represents every single fan’’s own experience. I hope that listening to the album will be like looking into a mirror and realizing that true love is found in every chapter of your life.” says lullaboy himself. Here, he takes us through each single.
she could be – dream love
If you want to know how it feels to meet someone that makes you a better person, this song is for you. This is the first song I released as lullaboy. I related so much to one of the characters from kdrama “crash landing on you” who experienced this and that is secretly where the spoken audio clips in the song are from.
r&r – easy love
Rest & Relaxation, written in the height of the pandemic after the whole world’s plans changed, this is a song about taking a break from the troubles of life & love and just doing whatever makes you happy.
my name is… – self love
The carefree song of the album, this song highlights the different quirks that make me who I am. It is about accepting that we all have different facets to our personalities and I show that contrast with the ukulele as the main instrument and a hip-hop/trap beat underneath.
personal – hidden love
This is a diary entry in the form of a song. Vocal and acoustic guitar centered, the song leaves everything out on the table. It’s about breaking my own heart and although people might analyze it as a song about a girlfriend or boyfriend, it was actually written about a friend that I never meant to lose. I can safely say that this is the song of mine I listen to the most.
someone like u – unexpected love
The song that changed my life, I never expected this to blow up the way it did. This acoustic driven song is about finally finding the kind of love that you’ve been looking for your whole life but also feeling undeserving of it. Is that sweet? Is it sad? Or both. You be the judge.
blind – toxic love
This song is about domestic violence and physical abuse. I wrote it from the perspective of the victim as a way to escape the pain. I think that when you first listen to this song, you’ll get lost in the melodic swing feel or the plucked electric guitar and anyone can enjoy it, but the lyric analysts will be able to understand the important message in the song.
gone too long – long distance love
A song for anyone experiencing a long-distance relationship. This song is for assuring the other person that everything is going to be alright. It blends the acoustic guitar with lo-fi style beats.
mr. lonely – finding love
An anthem of hope for my generation of overthinkers.
only in my dreams – parental love
A love letter to my mom that I wrote after a fight we had. I was on my way to a recording session but thought about what life would be like without her and that whole night shifted to the creation of this song. Sometimes it’s hard to say how we feel but where words fail, music speaks.
the boy – regretful love
The album’s most nostalgic ballad, a lot of people say this reminds them of a backstreet boys song and I take that as a compliment because singing their song helped me win a singing competition as a kid haha. I wrote this song to help me come to terms with having to part ways with someone I cared about.
“Don’t forget me, cos I’m still the boy you loved.” I actually had this song for years and even posted a video of it on youtube. Making a studio version was closure for me.
dejavu – lost love
This is a song about seeing the ghost of someone everywhere you go. You can’t help but have memories of them infecting every aspect of your life. I grew up as emo punk rocker, so getting to tap into that side for this song was special for me.
Originally this song was meant for another artist but I couldn’t give it up and decided to keep it.
open up – spiritual love
This song I wrote when I couldn’t figure out how to get a girl I really cared about to open up to me and be vulnerable with me. She had so many walls built up around her and that really put a strain on what we had. A few lines into writing the song, I realized that I was actually describing my spiritual journey.
What I felt about her must have been the way God feels about me when I don’t open up and let my walls down. I actually consider myself a spiritual person so I knew I wanted this song to wrap up the album.
Once you’re done with lullaboy’s review of “chapters of you”, click here to catch up with our December/January 2022 issue!
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