Music is a funny thing in Singapore. Like most creative pursuits, the scene isn’t exactly booming the way it is overseas. There’s no Glastonbury or Governor’s Ball here. What festivals used to grace our small island nation, like St. Jerome’s Laneway Festival from Australia, have bit the dust long ago.
You could chalk it up to any number of reasons. On a policy level, our country is infamous for prioritising STEM-related subjects across all levels of education. On a material level, it’s become harder than ever to keep your head above water—the cost of living is skyrocketing and there are no reasons to believe it’ll slow down anytime soon. And, of course, Singapore is simply very, very young. As we look forward to our 61st birthday, there’s no denying the cold hard fact: there is plenty of room for our music industry to grow.
That being said, you’d have to be living under a rock to not know that those seeds of growth have already been planted. Artists like Weish, Charlie Lim and Nathan Hartono—even a handful of the more indie bands like Forests and Subsonic Eye—have been hard at work watering the roots of Singapore’s music scene for a good while now. Fun fact, the latter made history in the wake of Covid-19 as Southeast Asia’s first band to perform on the wildly popular live concert series hosted by Seattle radio station KEXP.
This success at home and abroad speaks volumes. And since Covid-19, the concert track has flourished, even if its most significant sales have come courtesy of sold-out crowds at National Stadium watching some of the biggest names in the industry, like Taylor Swift and Coldplay. At the very least, this seems to signal that the people are hungry for good music—they just need to be pointed in the right direction. When better to start than in the year 2026? Where better than on our own shores?
Somehow, the unforgiving grip of an increasingly volatile world has not dampened the wellspring of Singapore’s sonic creativity. Indeed, perhaps—like much of Gen Z’s attitude towards life in the 2020s—the wellspring overflows in spite of this harsh reality. Younger local musicians of every background—playing every genre—are slowly, but surely, carving out their space in the scene.
On this front, the last several months have been nothing short of monumental. In April, multi-talented artist Elo Elo opened for Icelandic experimental pop outfit Múm at the Esplanade Annexe Theatre. In May, emo rockers Curb played ahead of longtime beloved Midwest emo band Algernon Cadwallader at the cherished underground venue, Room 526. In June, shoegaze staple Blush shared the bill with Canadian grunge duo Softcult at Level 5 at Grid. And just last month, progressive metal aspirants Approaching Aphelion shredded alongside Australian guitar prodigy Plini at Scape’s Ground Theatre.
However, our musicians aren’t just opening acts. Self-proclaimed ‘trancegaze CEO’ Beansclub just came back from an album tour in the UK. And there’s an inspiring grassroots movement on home soil being nurtured by local gig organisers like Trifecta, Overdrive and Dogswain, whose packed shows feature artists like psychedelic punk band Cactus Cactus. It’s been nothing short of inspiring.
Perhaps a new contender to the throne of reality has come to play: one borne from guts and grit and hope. Maybe, just maybe, the future of music in Singapore has never actually looked brighter. If you don’t know where to start, not to worry—we have your backs. Below, Vogue Singapore curates a lineup of the six local musicians that should be at the top of your playlists, stat.
1 / 6
Elo Elo
Tang Hui Jun used to play with local crowd favourites Cues and Cosmic Child. Now she’s doing her own thing, taking inspiration from her past work to drive a promising solo career. Her brand of mesmerising experimental music has a little bit of everything, straddling the avant-garde and the ambient, laced with just the right amount of poppy indie rock hooks.
Listen to Elo Elo’s debut album here.
2 / 6
Curb
It doesn’t matter how old you are: emo never goes out of style. On this, Curb are experts. The three-man band knows how to chop it up with the best of them, equally at home churning out anthemic riffs as they are belting out soaring choruses. It’s not quite pop-punk, but it’s also not quite true-blue emo—it’s the best of both worlds, akin to the twinkly effervescence of fourth wave emo.
3 / 6
Blush
Once a niche genre, shoegaze is now being embraced by younger generations with gusto. Case in point: just look at Blush. Between singer Soffi Peters’s ethereal vocals and the bedrock of bright instrumentation (guitarist Darell Laser sings for local math rock band Forests), the classic ‘wall of sound’ the genre is known for gets turned on its head with a blend airy dreampop and alt-rock grunge.
4 / 6
Approaching Aphelion
Equip your earplugs and keep a neck brace handy. This four-piece is one-half dancing math rock, one-half headbanging progressive metal. If you’ve ever wondered how guitarists can solo at breakneck pace in front of a crowded audience, or drummers can play lightning fast fills coupled with relentless double bass pedals, just catch the next Approaching Aphelion show.
5 / 6
Beansclub
The kids might not be hitting up the town as much nowadays, but who needs the sweaty, hazy dust of a nightclub when the sound is right at your fingertips? As Beansclub, Kenneth Lee is taking production to a whole other level with heady abandon, with a positively gut-pounding formula of hardcore plus trance.
6 / 6
Cactus Cactus
Get your groove on with psychedelic punk stalwarts Cactus Cactus. Their guitar riffs toe the line between lilting and jangly (Khruangbin), and grimy and sludgy (Slint). Vocalist Isaac Chiew yells (and sometimes croons) into the microphone in a way that evokes UK heavyweight Idles. And their unstoppable bass lines and general pace of production bring to mind the most prolific band this side of the new millenium: King Gizzard & the Wizard Lizard.
