SINGAPOREAN SINGER-SONGWRITER NATHAN HARTONO RETURNS WITH HIS MOST VISCERAL SELF OF HIS CAREER WITH NEW SINGLE “PASTRAMI”

On the back of his last two singles “Infinity” and “Night After Night” released last year, Nathan is embarking on this visceral and cathartic journey where he shares his innermost emotions about his career in the music industry and the trials and tribulations that came with it. All these honest, no-holds-barred feelings will cumulate into his first full length album titled The Great Regression due out later this year.

Written in a day at a songwriting camp in Kuala Lumpur and produced with Malaysian producer duo, SeaTravel, late October last year, “Pastrami” is a seemingly uplifting indie-pop delight that takes on a dark turn with its sharp lyrical wit. It is unmistakably Nathan Hartono – a perfect concoction of hooky melodic lines and deep grooves that propel the song forward and beyond.

While the song title may mislead one to think that the subject matter is about food, the truth is far harder to swallow - it’s a pun on “Past Trauma.”

Explains Nathan, “This song is titled ‘Pastrami’ because I thought ‘Past Trauma’ was too sad of a title. Processing trauma is a daunting task to say the least. Some people live their entire lives never addressing theirs. It’s uncomfortable as hell, and it’s not something you can just fix on the first go round. It’s a long process that often draws out more pain than you bargained for. Ignoring it seems…. reasonable.

And that’s what I did for a very long time, just chugging along, believing that I had moved past my trauma because I’m a functional human being and not a heap on the floor. It’s rarely that simple.

Facing my traumas took a lot of work. And a lot of help. It took someone brave enough to listen, and it took me being brave enough to say something and let people in. And for that, I’m so proud of myself.

The first time I heard this track in demo form, I found myself crying uncontrollably.

Something that has never happened in my entire career as a singer. The process of writing and recording it was more cathartic than I could ever know. What’s more is that I feel like I’ve exorcised a little bit of my pain in a positive way, which gives me hope in dealing with it more in the future.”

Putting equal heart into his visual output, Nathan has once again, helmed the creative direction of the single artwork and the trippy, psychedelic companion music video. Shot, directed, and edited entirely by the artist himself, the music video for “Pastrami” is a surreal wild wide into the non-sequitur creative mind of Nathan Hartono and is available on Nathan’s official YouTube channel.

 “Pastrami” is part of a series of new music releases that will culminate into a full-length album titled The Great Regression due out later in 2023. Says Nathan, “The Great Regression is a journey in finding ‘Nathan Hartono’ again. It’s me learning to love him more, trust him more, and accepting all the loveliness and ugliness that comes with this insane career path.”