It’s an uphill climb for locals to get recognition for musical talent here, since many Singaporeans don’t care for homegrown music, unless you’ve made it big overseas.

Manfred “Myrne” Lim has 1 other thing stacked against him. Instead of mainstream pop, the 18-year-old St. Andrew’s Junior College student who is a self-taught DJ and producer, creates his own electro-house music and remixes. Having put a few of his mixes on his Soundcloud account, he was discovered by Relentik Records – a UK label set up by EDM producer Multiplier. Through which Myrne signed his first EP titled Revolution released on Jun 27.

Beginning the Extended Play recording is “Home”, a dancey up-tempo track that starts out sounding a little like Avicii and Nicky Romero’s “I Could Be The One”, with its simple piano tune repeating ad nauseum over a beat. With inspiration from the world-renowned Swedish DJ, “Home” features Kiah Yong, a Ngee Ann Polytechnic student, on the vocals. Throughout the track, Myrne shows off his classical music background with small piano solos thrown in over a few beats and sound effects.

The same mastery can’t be said about Kiah Yong. With her shakey and slightly pitchy vocals, she comes off more as an annoyance than an asset. Especially when she “sings” over and over again, “e-yeah, e-yeah, e-yeah-oh”, distracting listeners from the great mix of melodies.

But all hope isn’t lost as the second track comes in; as one listens to the different elements of Myrne’s mix coming in bit by bit, you know it’s going to be a great track. “Gone!” is a surprisingly well-crafted piece with catchy original synth melodies and a great beat. By the fourth second into the track, you’re sure to be tapping your feet or bopping your head to the melody.

Distorting a sample of Adam Levine’s vocals in “Payphone”, Myrne brings to mind Skrillex and his love for such techniques. The skilful weaving of various breaks and loops over each other makes this track a favourite among listeners earning it more positive comments and likes on Soundcloud than the others.

The next track “Discovery” begins as a pretty chill song with not much going on audio wise, but as the song progresses, the track opens up to a very  Daft Punk-esque “Get Lucky” kind of old school disco at 2:50 of the track, after a pretty standard break in the middle of the EP.

Track 4 is another that uses a sampling of  Maroon 5’s “She Will Be Loved”. With an adorable bitpop and Gameboy music-like audio that forms a melody just above the steady bass line with swirls that may only be described with the visualisation of pinwheel fireworks, “Take Love” is a fun track that’s great for car rides with friends.

Inspired by other EDM DJ’s like Swedish House Mafia and Madeon, Myrne brings forth an impressive first EP that shows off his skill and musical talent; be it classical or technological. Though on a whole, it can be said that he still hasn’t found his own distinction of sound or genre, there’s no harm trying them some of them out is there? Having said that however, with an increased practice and familiarity with EDM genres and techniques, who’s to stop Myrne from bringing his music further?

 

A digital download of Myrne’s EP is available on beatport.

 

Album Details:

Artist: Myrne

Album title: Revolution EP

Rating:3/5

Language: English

Genre: Electro/House/EDM

Record Label: Relentik Records

Release Date: 27 July 2013

 

 

 

 

Track List:

1. Home ft. Kiah Yong

2. Gone!

3. Discovery

4. Take Love

5. Leaving