SINGAPOREAN SINGER-SONGWRITER NATHAN HARTONO HITS A NEW MUSICAL MILESTONE WITH HIS LATEST EP, EDGE OF DAYS

Since the beginning of 2021, Nathan Hartono has been working on a new body of work, adapting and learning new ways to create and live life in a world shaped by the current pandemic situation. Together with the previously released singles “I’m Fine” and “The Difference” (produced by Singaporean producer MYRNE) and two brand new tracks “Simple” and “Didn’t We” (co-written remotely with writers and producers based in New York and Los Angeles), Nathan is ready to unpack his reflections and reminiscence in a four-track EP, Edge of Days.

Says Nathan, “The EP itself is actually quite a random mix of sounds and feelings, I wish I could say there was more thematic unity… but maybe that is the theme. It was written over the course of the first half of this year which was erratic to say the least. The rules to life kept changing. And I was finding myself bouncing between days, stopping and starting, unable to get much of a foothold on anything really, thus the ‘edge of days.’ Music kept me going, for that I am forever grateful. The bonus is that you get to hear the product of all that!”

All those inner struggles of trauma, self-love, and sentiments of the pandemic days are evident in the singles “I’m Fine” where according to Nathan, “telling someone the exact phrase of the song title doesn’t mean the same thing it did 10 years ago,” and the understated expression of love in “The Difference.” Adding to the strong musical narrative on the EP are the new singles “Simple” and “Didn’t We” that completes the story arc.

Describing “Simple,” the ingenuous love song that is also the EP’s lead focus track, Nathan says, “‘Simple’ is about how love can seem impossible, either finding it or maintaining it. It’s one of those things that can freak you out if you start to overthink it. It’s a song about understanding that journey and longing for something simpler.”

Together with his Berklee schoolmate, musician and producer Juan Ariza, Nathan recounts how the songwriting session of “Simple” is where he first experienced writing a track from scratch remotely over Zoom.

“Most of the song was done after five to six hours of intense tunnel vision. And when we got out of the session, both of us were so excited with what we had. I also came in with the hopes of writing ‘a simple love song,’ and sure enough we stuck with that concept and dove into the layers of what a ‘simple love’ can be,” explains Nathan.

The fourth and final track of the EP, “Didn’t We” (produced by New York producer Spencer Hattendorf) is set on a groovy tune that complements the jazzy, resonant guitar riffs in the chorus instrumentals. The track starts off as a slow-paced, nostalgic serenade and ascends to a gradual crescendo of emotive expression – “Didn’t we try live just a little? / Didn’t we prove love could be simple”.

“‘Didn’t We’ is written out of nostalgia for pre-pandemic life. Things like long road trips, crowded concerts, spontaneous vacations… I look back and see this degree of wild freedom that almost seems foreign to me at this point. I long for those days but am also inspired to live them more fully once this whole thing is over,” muses Nathan.

Hitting a milestone with the EP release, Nathan reflects on his musical journey as a recording artist to be “getting closer to becoming the musician I think I am”.

“I’m just liking myself more, as a musician. It’s weird to say but I never really bought it from myself till recently. Either I’m getting better, or more confident, or more delusional. I’m loving the journey though,” says Nathan.

Embracing his idiosyncratic individuality, Nathan wants to keep surprising people with his music and other ways of expressing his creativity – evidenced by his very own EP cover artwork design and promotional videos accompanying the release.

Nathan adds, “I’ve always loved unpredictability, and I feel like the idea of me has gone a little stale. I’m looking to shake it up a little, both for myself and you.”