Love isn’t always rainbows and butterflies, confessions don’t always promise reciprocation. Though we’d love to view love under a rose-tinted lens and believe expressing our feelings is straightforward, Cindy Zhang and LambC teamed up to trade lines on the less-talked-about self-doubt and trepidation in fear of being caught in a one-sided love affair.
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“I would write a song for my crush and send it via email… Sometimes, it worked and sometimes it failed.” The ‘Dear Caramel’ singer-songwriter told Bandwagon when asked about his own experiences with dealing out confessions.
Aptly releasing their collaboration track, ‘Confession’, on 20th May (the Asian “Confession Day”), the song binds listeners in its relatability, being made for and by ones who have inevitably feared rejection.
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Featuring a melancholy blend of Cindy’s signature RnB sound and LambC’s bedroom indie pop one, we caught up with the self-producing musicians of ‘Confession’ for a behind-the-scenes look into their collaboration process as well as their journey in the industry thus far.
Hi,Cindy and LambC! Hope you guys are doing well, other than dropping ‘Confession’, how did you guys spend your ‘520’ Confession Day?
Cindy: It was a relatively normal day for me haha. I recorded a few new songs and went out for some dinner with friends afterwards.
LambC: Hello! Thanks and likewise :) I’ve honestly spent my day working and building my new workspace studio which I recently rented out but since it was the day of the release I did give it a couple of spins while doing some construction work which really made my day.
Your recent release 'Confession’ is described as a bittersweet love song that talks about a relationship with doubts and uncertainties, walk us through the process of collaborating to making this track.
Cindy: Lamb sent over the Confession demo in late January to Cross Ratio and me, and I instantly connected with the song. Because Lamb lives in Korea and I live in California, we had to do the collaboration completely remotely. Going off the theme of Lamb’s lyrics, I wrote my own verse and recorded my main vocals and background vocals, and then sent my vocals back to him for him to add more harmonies.
LambC: I got an email from Cross Ratio and Cindy for a collaboration so I checked Cindy’s music out and boy it was good! So I had no troubles deciding the collaboration and we instantly started sharing ideas and worked our way up to the final product with ease :)
All thanks to Cindy and Cross Ratio team!
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Speaking of confessions, tell us each a memorable anecdote of any personal love confessions you may have received or given!
Cindy: Not really a love confession—but I asked my high school orchestra crush to a school dance by writing the invitation on sheet music :)
LambC: I would write a song for my crush and send it via email… Of course after spending significant time with that person. Sometimes it worked and sometimes it failed haha
Cindy, in relation to your musical background as a violinist, being in an acapella community, as well as studying jazz under Kamau Kenyatta, how do you feel these experiences and milestones in your life have formed your current sound today? And what made you venture into the genre of RnB/neo-soul among others?
Cindy: My musical training in a variety of different genres has shaped how my songs sound today, and also prepared me for the work I put into songwriting, recording and production. My time in an a cappella group taught me a lot about vocal harmonies and contributed to the way I stack background vocals. Studying and listening to jazz influenced the way that I sing as well as the way I play guitar.
There are also many jazz elements in my songs: from the chord progressions to the instrumentation to the space I leave for solos. Being a classical violinist trained me for music theory I needed in songwriting and building harmonies. There are also a lot of string arrangements in my new songs for my second album!
I ventured into RnB/neo-soul because to me, this genre of music expresses emotions in the strongest way. I love how the vocals in RnB always bend in a very soulful way, and how the genre is heavily influenced by jazz.
And for your fans who have been waiting for a second album since 2020, do you have any upcoming projects for this year that they can look forward to?
Cindy: I’m excited to be releasing my second album this year! I’ve been working on this album for almost two years now, and it’s a huge body of work that is really personal to me and that I’m really proud of. Can’t wait for everyone to listen to it!
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Apart from that, I’m working on another album composed of reimagined versions of jazz standards and classic tunes.
LambC, for you, what's it like as an independent musician these days?
LambC: It’s been real good because I got to release up to 7 singles each month since last November. Plus I got to do the collaboration with a bunch of talented artists including Cindy which was one of my main goals for 2022. It’s obviously a give and take when it comes to being independent but I’m really loving my time to grow both as an artist and a person.
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Since your debut, you have been dabbling in genres that are uplifting and sincere, when you make music what is the one thing you would like fans to feel after listening to your songs?
Now, it’s all about whether I personally am in love with the song because I used to be a bit of a people pleaser. But then it turns out I was never happy listening back to certain songs that were created with the mindset of trying to please others. These days, whatever I’m working on needs to be true to my heart and intentions both emotionally and musically. I think that’s the way it should be as an artist.
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