Singaporean singer-songwriters Dru Chen and Shye have released a new collaborative single, ‘I’ll Be Honest’.
The track arrived on Friday (July 29) via Joel Tan (Gentle Bones)’s Yung Lee Records, and it features a bubblegum pop instrumentation. Lyrically, Chen and Shye take turns to sing about a love that’s lost, with the themes of bitterness and acceptance at the centre of it.
“Cause it’s so hard for me to be the one you need when you’re not here / I lost a friend / A bitter end.” “But it still hurts for me to see the one I need with someone else / He loves your smile / You love his style / I wanna know frankly, do you miss me, honestly?”
Stream the new single below.
‘I’ll Be Honest’ marks the second collaborative single Chen has released this year, following from ‘Show Me’ in April with Calvert Tay – building up to the release of a deluxe version of his 2021 album ‘Slow Life’ which features other homegrown artists in Gentle Bones and Rangga Jones.
Shye, on the other hand has released three solo singles this year, as she revealed to NME in an interview in January, saying that she would not be releasing an album but would “definitely be putting out singles.” They are ‘still trying’, ‘phonecase’ and ‘mirror’.
Shye was crowned the Best New Act from Asia at the Bandlab NME Awards earlier this year, while also being nominated for the Best New Act in the World award.