Hong Kong Alt R&B Artist cehryl Shares New LP ‘willow tree’
June 7, 2024 BY Emma Orland
Today, Hong Kong-based singer-songwriter-producer cehryl unveils her new LP, willow tree. Written and recorded late at night in her apartment, she conjures emotion by playing a bevy of instruments, arranging, producing, and vocalizing her story so delicately it almost feels like she’s sharing a secret with you alone. Adding, “I can only create when the night comes, and the house is quiet. I want the album to feel like a dark room where you’re comfortable enough and not too self-conscious to reveal what you’re feeling and struggling with to yourself.”
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willow tree
https://cehryl.ffm.to/willowtree
After her debut album in 2016, cehryl was prolific for years until after the release her 2021 EP, time machine, when she lost the drive to create. cehryl explains, “For a long time, I couldn’t really write any music. I had no motivation at all. It was not until I fell in love with another album—I looped it exclusively for a few months and it gave me the feeling that I thought I had lost—the feeling of obsession, fixation, passion, and joy. Suddenly, I didn’t care about anything other than music again. On this record, I wanted to juxtapose the personal nature of the lyrics with cinematic production by using more synths and sound effects to build a coherent world. The album, to me, feels loose, hazy and vignette-like, but still has its own trajectory.”
willow tree features her previously released hushed alt-r&B singles, “anything you ask,” “burn blister,” “kill the thought,” “need/give me,” and “last summer i found the reason (again),” along with new offerings “sometimes i get so tired,” “rules,” “row row row,” “goodnight, don’t wait,” “swimming pool,” and “guarantee.”
watch “goodnight, don’t wait”:
https://youtu.be/Ka8P0CBBikM
cehryl has a voice as dulce and mellifluous as the songs she produces and writes to. Stories that explore the complexity of human emotion fill her dreamy, genre-fusing tracks, where her lyrical flair and classical training are on full display. From the strings she rips to the production, recording, and mixing, cehryl orchestrates every part of her songs. Her painfully relatable sonic gifts have gained her an international community of fans across the globe. Born and raised in Hong Kong, cehryl came to the United States to attend Berklee College of Music in Boston and, post-college, found herself in Los Angeles, forming a tight-knit scene with friends Zack Villere, Mulherin, Dijon, Alex Szotak, and Soft Glas and performing with artists like Still Woozy and Ravyn Lenae. Her buzzy 2019 debut album Slow Motion, garnered her praise from Paper, Earmilk, i-D, Complex while her 2021 EP, time machine, continued to garner new tastemaker fans at NPR, Flaunt, Ones To Watch, and more.
She currently resides in Hong Kong, where she grew up, working closely with the tight-knit indie music community alongside bands and friends like RIDDEM, as well as visual artists and filmmakers Jonny Ho, Natalie A. Chao, and others. In 2022, she produced and wrote for Hong Kong artists Janice Vidal, Pong Nan, Sophy W, Moon Tang and has been collaborating with other multidisciplinary artists in the scene.
willow tree
1. need/give me
2. sometimes i get so tired
3. burn blister
4. kill the thought
5. rules
6. row row row
7. goodnight, don’t wait
8. swimming pool
9. anything you ask
10. last summer i found the reason (again)
11. guarantee
