NME Radar Sessions: Singer-songwriter Khally on the peaceful bliss of her Singaporean home of Pasir Ris

For emerging singer-songwriter Khally, there is no place in Singapore like Pasir Ris. For NME Radar Sessions, she reveals how the tranquil neighbourhood in the east of the country has shaped her over the years she’s lived there – and how it’s informed her new journey in music. Watch the full video above.

NME Radar Sessions, a series exploring the relationship between art and place, touches down in Singapore for interviews with four artists and live performances filmed on location. In this entry, 20-year-old singer-songwriter Khally guides us through the charming spaces, familiar faces and humble seaside charm of Pasir Ris.

• READ MORE: Subsonic Eye, THELIONCITYBOY, Khally and Fariz Jabba – watch the NME Radar Sessions trailer now

A coastal area in Singapore that abides by its own rhythm, Pasir Ris is a haven for anyone arriving (or returning) from the busy streets of the city-state’s metropolitan jungle. “It’s pretty normal for us to just take things slow,” lifetime resident Khally puts it. “Pasir Ris is where I can take things one step at a time.”

A self-professed ‘girl next door’, Khally has learned to harness that chilled-out energy in her songwriting, believing her upbringing in Pasir Ris has come to define her “laid-back” philosophy in life and art – she never wants to “rush any creative process”. Any attempt to force it would not be driven by “an authentic, genuine heart,” she says.

Last November, after a year of fine-tuning and soul-searching, she released her debut EP ‘Let’s Talk About Love’. A nine-track exploration of heartbreak and desire, it captures a young girl learning to resolve the complications of her youth as an era of womanhood slowly sets in, which offers its own thorny bouquet of roses.

On her debut single ‘Sunflower’, Khally meditates on the challenging (and, often, unforgiving) process of songwriting. ‘Wildest Blows’, on the other hand, finds her turning her perspective outward to offer observations on modern society – all the parts of it she’s invigorated by and worried about. For NME Radar Sessions, she performed stripped-down renditions of both songs, assisted by guitarist Harist Sunil. Watch it below:

As she wrote ‘Let’s Talk About Love’, Khally made sure she had all the time she needed to dive in and come out renewed, if not unscathed. Sea Shell Park, a nautical-themed community space just behind her house, became a cherished hideout for her to unwind and untangle her mind. Her days spent cycling and listening to music at Pasir Ris Beach afforded her calmness and composure – feelings that she now hopes people can glean from her music.

The beach is also where she spends quality time with her friends and her partner. “We spend more time talking and engaging [with each other here] than being on our phones,” she says, adding that these seaside conversations, mostly about life and love, greatly added some perspective to her songwriting.

Pasir Ris isn’t just a sanctuary for Khally – it also contains a growing network of kindred creative spirits, also steeped in the town’s eternal mellowness. ‘Let’s Talk About Love’ and its adventurous mix of sounds, from bossa nova to reggae to alternative R&B to neo-soul, was produced by ProdByDan – a musician whom Khally later found out lived only two blocks away from her in Pasir Ris. Other creatives hang out in her family home, where they also find artistic and entrepreneurial ideas gestating.

To the outside world, Khally offers her EP as a slice of quietude and companionship that she often experiences in her own haven of Pasir Ris – which she hopes people will visit and be re-energised by. “I want them to feel like this is where they can be their most playful self,” she asserts. “I just want people to feel like a kid again.”

After indie band Subsonic Eye and rapper THELIONCITYBOY, Khally is the third Singaporean artist taking the spotlight in NME Radar Sessions. Don’t miss rapper Fariz Jabba bringing this season to a fiery close next week.

This instalment of NME Radar Sessions was produced with the support of the Singapore Tourism Board’s SG Stories Content Fund Season 2

Want more NME Radar Sessions? Find the full series – both interviews and performances – here as new weekly chapters are premiered this month