Taking It Easy

With the release of a third new record, local indie-rock act Subsonic Eye opens up on their new-found maturity and optimism with its latest sounds — an effortless favourite in the scene.

- Manfred Lu

From the first notes of their debut album — “Strawberry Feels” Subsonic Eye has effortlessly captured the pronounced, turbulent, and heavy-hearted feelings of growing up. At its simplest, it is a display of the complications of teenage romance and friendships. It all starts with the band’s melancholic introduction that builds straight into an honest call of yearning for a new start. There, Wahidah (the band’s lead vocalist) painfully sings the lines, “I have counted all my days where the ceiling fan goes down, and I begin”. The following songs, including the standout hit “Cosmic Realignment”, continue the same narrative of agony masked beneath euphoric, dream-like instrumentals. It suggests a pattern of self-aggression that reflects the interior struggles of youth, with its highs and lows reflected in the structure of the song and the poeticism clearly marked by its lyrics.