SINGAPORE – In this weekly column, The Straits Times curates the most buzz-worthy music you need to know about now.

Must-see MV: IU – Love Wins All

It has been more than two years since K-pop superstar IU released an album, so she makes sure to come back strong with a haunting ballad and a BTS member by her side.

Love Wins All, released before her album The Winning drops on Feb 20, is the first song in South Korea to achieve a perfect all-kill in 2024. It swept the top spot on various music charts, such as the daily and Top 100 charts of Melon, the daily and real-time charts of Genie and Bugs, the top songs chart of YouTube Music and more.

But it is the cinematic music video that has garnered the most attention as IU and K-pop boy band BTS’ V play a couple in it. With visuals befitting lyrics such as “go to the end with me, my lover”, viewers see the lovebirds trying to survive in a post-apocalyptic world.

Directed by film-maker Um Tae-hwa, who helmed the apocalyptic satire Concrete Utopia (2023), the music video opens with the couple on the run from a floating cube – a seemingly dangerous and hostile force.

IU, who communicates with V via sign language, is implied to be deaf-mute, while V is blind in one eye.

During their escape, the couple stumble upon the remains of a destroyed city and civilisation. In an abandoned store, they pick up a camcorder, through which they imagine a different world and happier versions of themselves.

They head to a restaurant and see themselves eating delicious food. When they find a bridal store, IU puts on a dress and a veil, while V suits up in a tuxedo. They dance, but their happiness is cut short when the cube finds them and chases them down.

They put up their best fight, but are ultimately killed. But the cube does not manage to separate the pair, who stay together till the end, proving that, indeed, love wins all. – Jan Lee

Chart Champ: Justin Timberlake and Britney Spears – Selfish

Selfish was supposed to be the big comeback for American singer Justin Timberlake, his first solo song in nearly six years. The emotionally vulnerable R&B tune looked set to be a shoo-in to top the charts.

Alas, fans of Britney Spears had other ideas. Still sore from the damning accounts of their relationship – the pair dated from 1999 to 2002 – revealed in her 2023 memoir The Woman In Me, such as how he pressured her to get an abortion, her supporters mobilised to pit the duo against each other.

Spears stans went on a campaign to stream and purchase her 13-year-old song, also titled Selfish, from the album Femme Fatale (2011), to prevent Timberlake from topping the charts.

The strategy worked. On Jan 27, Spears’ Selfish went to No. 1 on the iTunes charts, while Timberlake’s similarly titled tune was at No. 3. Wedged in between at No. 2 was Facts, a trap song by Canadian rapper Tom MacDonald and American political commentator Ben Shapiro.

Timberlake could have the last laugh, though. On Jan 29, Spears apologised for offending “any of the people I genuinely care about” in an Instagram post, and declared that she was “in love” with Timberlake’s Selfish, which she described as being “so good”.

She also praised Sanctified, another new Timberlake single, as being “wow too”. She then made her Instagram account private.

Timberlake is expected to release Everything I Thought It Was, his first studio album since 2018’s Man Of The Woods, on March 15. – Eddino Abdul Hadi

Ace Album: The Smile – Wall Of Eyes

With the release of their second album, it is clear that The Smile are no mere side project for Jonny Greenwood and Thom Yorke, members of English rock band Radiohead. The pair formed their outfit with jazz drummer Tom Skinner and released debut album A Light For Attracting Attention in 2022.

Wall Of Eyes is even more esoteric and weird compared with its eccentric predecessor.

The title track, which opens the album, is eerie and haunting, as Yorke gives a cynical toast (“Let us raise our glasses/To what we don’t deserve/What we’re not worthy of”).

Under Our Pillows boasts some mind-bending guitar riffs and odd-time drumming. But one song later, in Friend Of A Friend, the band dial it down with a mix of jazz and 1970s-style piano-pop.

Bending Hectic is a masterful eight-minute opus that features lush strings by the London Contemporary Orchestra – it starts out benign and builds up to a crescendo of distorted guitars.

With no indication of when Radiohead will be active again – their last album A Moon Shaped Pool came out eight years ago and their last tour ended in 2018 – fans can at least bask in the glory that is The Smile for now. – Eddino Abdul Hadi

Stream This Song: Jackson Yee – 4% Vol River

China’s capital Beijing has a reputation for having a frenetic pace of life and many historical landmarks. But the latest track by Chinese singer Jackson Yee emphasises another side of the city – one inhabited by unpretentious ordinary citizens.

4% Vol River refers to the Tonghui River that flows through Beijing, where roadsweepers, kayakers and anglers are a common sight.

The title also suggests the alcoholic content of a light beer, and the song – a carefree, guitar-backed number about spending a stress-free day along the river, watching the world go by – is indeed as soothing as one.

The vibe is relaxed and chill, and even incorporates Yee’s whistling, the sound of a beer can being opened, and of him taking a swig of the drink. A perfect musical accompaniment to unwind to after a hard day’s work. – Benson Ang

Singapore Scene: Sistrum – Vel Vel

Released as a vinyl record and online at Bandcamp (str.sg/oxkzD), Vel Vel is a collection of music and audio from Thaipusam festivities.

The album is released by home-grown art collective Sistrum, whose members are sound designer Ramesh Krishnan, architect Laura Miotto and graphic designer Lim Shu Min.

The recordings were made between 2011 and 2016 from the 4km procession that starts at the Sri Srinivasa Perumal Temple in Serangoon Road and ends at the Sri Thendayuthapani Temple in Tank Road. Listening to Vel Vel is an immersive experience that takes you to the heart of the procession.

The album is part of Sistrum’s long-term project, also titled Vel Vel, that started in 2020, when Thaipusam was cancelled for the first time in over a hundred years due to the pandemic.

The project also included a Web app commissioned by The Arts House and an installation, Vel Vel: The Burden Dance, held at the Asian Civilisations Museum.

Krishnan explains in a press statement that the various audio materials were carefully edited to make it sound like it was recorded in a single procession. “The album uses sound to explore the places of Thaipusam and to listen to the ways in which communities interact during the festival.” – Eddino Abdul Hadi