Following the release of his new EP 'Flowers & Spice', we caught up with alt-pop artist T. Shan to find out more about the music he loves and why. Check out his selection below and if you're also a fan you're sure to fall in love with 'Flowers & Spice'.
1. Colde - Your Dog Loves You
Discovering Korean R&B really changed my sound. I’d never been a great writer of happy songs; I just found sadness a lot more compelling. And then here comes this subgenre that’s so light and breezy, yet jazzy and soulful. You can see its influences really clearly in my song “Blossom,” which was the first single off my upcoming EP “Flowers & Spice” and really kicked this whole era off. Also this song is a love song to a dog? Incredible stuff happening in South Korea. Do I have an English cover of this song? Yes. Do I have a love song to a cat on the way? Also yes.
2. Brockhampton - Sugar (Remix)
The original is great, but this remix brings it to the next level. I never thought I needed 90s R&B titan Jon B on the same track as Brockhampton but he fits SO WELL. These days I’m trying to not be so preoccupied with sonic cohesion in my music, and just make stuff I like to listen to, and Brockhampton is a constant reminder you can make smooth, pretty shit and propulsive, hard-hitting shit and as long as the personality behind the music is consistent, it can all make sense together. Well, except they’re like 20 guys and I’m one, but whatever.
3. Scribes - Roll My Way
I’m so glad I finally get to highlight this song and this artist. My friend first played this in his car ages ago and I was stunned, no idea where he found this song from. I thought this must’ve been a huge artist, because Scribes’s rapping is so smooth, with perfect flows, enunciation, complex Nas-like rhyme schemes, and then his singing is pitch-perfect and Nate-Dogg-esque. Honestly, Drake was starting off around the same time as a singer/rapper, but I’m realizing this song had a huge influence on me, in trying to be at the top of your game in both rapping and singing. Last I checked, Scribes may have stopped making music, but I hope he gets his just due one day.
4. Osean - 懶得進化 (feat. the Crane)
I really need to listen to more Chinese/Taiwanese music, as someone who’s fluent in Mandarin. My friend Isaac Solo showed me this song, and the 90s R&B spirit is so alive in The Crane’s verse. There’s a moment at 2:41, where the little melody he does is so, so, classically R&B. I honestly might interpolate it at some point. Then the contrast between Osean’s sleepy vocals and The Crane’s rich textured voice? Wow. I usually like smoother, more melodic cuts, so this song is heaven.
5. The Cab - That ‘70s Song
And then to finish things off, this is a classic from my , which I rediscovered recently. I used to be a huge pop punk fan around the time this song came out, and The Cab almost was a bit too pop for me at the time; like Backstreet Boys meets Fall Out Boy. But looking back on it now, I wonder how much of my pop punk consumption influenced me musically. As I explore a little farther from my hip hop roots (which started after my pop punk phase) and start making pop more (my version of it at least), I feel like my instincts are so dictated by the propulsive verses and catchy but just a little rough-around-the-edges hooks of bands like this.
Listen to the EP 'Flowers & Spice' below: