Imagine you’re watching the TV when, in the corner of your eye, you catch a creature standing in the doorway, soundlessly munching away on some cheese at 11pm. Sounds like a mouse that’s snuck into your house, like those in the movies? Maybe. Instead, we’re talking about Linying. This singer-songwriter may be sneaky like a house mouse, but her music heals and makes you feel right at home, with her newest EP, “House Mouse”, doing exactly that.
Linying is a Singaporean singer-songwriter – our starlet who has made waves around the world with her music. From hitting Spotify’s New Music Friday playlist across nine Asian countries and being the cover of its public playlists like Rising 65 and OTW to singing (and also producing and composing) the 2021 NDP song “The Road Ahead”, Linying’s journey has been absolutely remarkable.
Now, back to “House Mouse”! This adorable name is actually Linying’s nickname given to her by her friends whom she once lived with. They called her a sneaky house mouse when they caught her in the doorway, nibbling away on a slice of cheese. At that moment, everyone erupted in laughter.
But in hindsight, this nickname was an epiphany. It was a reminder that Linying does whatever she wants; nothing is stopping her and standing in her way if it is something she wants to do – whether it’s eating cheese at the oddest hour of the day or pursuing her dreams of being a singer when she has a History degree. It reminded her of her power and that she’s capable of living the life she wants.
In her own words, “Capable of standing outside a door that won’t open, waiting to be let in, when really I know that the only key I should want to hold is that one that actually fits and turns and welcomes me home to myself! And I think I’ve found it lately. (Happiness, at last!)”.
“House Mouse” consists of four tracks: Creature, Porcupine, Take Me to Your House, and Happiness. Each song tells a different story, conveying a different facet of the complex idea of “home”. What is home? Let’s go on a journey through “House Mouse” and see whether we can find out.
Creature
In Creature, we stand with Linying on the outside looking in. She stands outside of the house she’s spent so long trying to enter and make it feel like home, only to see someone dressed in smart clothes (with a collar, no less) getting accepted into the home within minutes. As she sings, Linying wallows in the irony of how someone dressed so formally and distant can turn a house into a home when she never could. Behold, the Creature.
My favourite part of the song is her beautiful vocalisation, which blends into the instrumental at the end. It’s as if she’s crying out of despair at being unable to achieve a feat that this Creature somehow has. It’s as if her pain is oozing out of her as she can no longer contain this feeling of being a stranger.
The song ends with a sound that makes me imagine a spaceship landing in front of me and about to bring an alien back to its home. Isn’t it fascinating how Linying refers to this person as the Creature when she feels like an alien?
Porcupine
An ordinary object in any home is a mirror. When you look in a mirror, you see yourself in it. Sometimes, you see the beauty. Sometimes, you see the imperfections. But imagine a Porcupine looking at itself in the mirror. If it gets distracted by its spikes, it will never be what it wants and will focus on what the world wants it to be. Porcupine is a reminder that the whole world is a mirror. It doesn’t show you what you need. Only you can tell yourself and give yourself that.
Porcupine, don’t leave yourself behind in a mirror
You’ll only get bitter, oh
I think you’d better go inside
These few lines in the lyrics feel like such a wake-up call. When we look at ourselves and get lost in our endless critique of our imperfections, Linying’s words hit home and snap us out of our doomed trance. It sounds like big sister advice, and it feels like we’re home.
This beautiful message comes wrapped in heart-tugging lyrics and a head-bobbing instrumental consisting of an accordion, a tack piano, and Linying’s magical voice through a microphone disguised as a telephone that changes her voice to make you feel like she’s truly on the phone with you, sharing with you this invaluable lesson herself. This song just makes you feel good. It makes you feel like you’re your own home.
Take Me To Your House
When the key you hold in your hand feels a little too heavy and looks beyond recognition, when the water you drink tastes strange instead of refreshing and familiar, when the curtains look ugly, and you can’t do anything about it, that’s a house. Nothing about it feels like a home. And Take Me To Your House encapsulates that feeling you have when you stand outside of it, hoping with every ounce of your soul for it to finally feel like home. But it never does.
Take Me To Your House tells the story of the protagonist who watched her ex move into a new house, but she never got a key to that house. Linying sings with her whole heart about the juxtaposition of standing outside, wanting to be let in. She sings in her golden voice about seeing this house and wanting to make it their home. She sings and paints the picture of home being a place where your love is.
Take Me To Your House drips with desperation and yearning as much as it does hope and anticipation. It’s mesmerising how her voice sounds one with the instrumental, how her voice carries the longing, but the instrumental delivers the relief — a hypnotic combination.
Happiness
As soon as the song starts, I picture a 2000s music video with a girl jumping up and down on the bed without a care in the world. I imagine her entirely carefree and plunging herself into her happiness with every jump. And it’s been named perfectly, too, because I feel so happy listening to this song. It’s one where Linying’s vocals certainly shine a little more, too, making it a welcoming change from the previous songs.
This song starts with a jaw-dropping revelation that the protagonist is going for an out-of-the-world romantic date (a cosmic shower!) with a taken man. It’s thrilling and almost wrong listening to such heartfelt confessions about the situation, but it is slightly heartwarming to hear how she feels loved and cared for and finally feels happy. This closing track pays an ode to Linying’s unique songwriting – the magic of letting go and exploring your wildest impulses.
And Linying brings that magic to her music video for Happiness, too! Whether it’s sitting on a kitchen sink and dancing in front of the mirror, creating your own 2000s-esque music video with a vintage camera, romanticising eating fruits, going to the beach, or just chilling lazily in an ultra-fancy villa, this music video carries the powerful message that ultimately defines us and our lives. Maybe, just maybe, happiness is home.
Ending Thoughts
You know what? If this EP has taught me anything, it’s that home can be anything and anywhere – a place, a person, or an emotion. Feeling happiness can feel like home. You are your own home. But at the same time, a house with everything you need may never feel like a home. The person you’re supposed to be in love with might never feel like home. Home is a crazy concept like that. And Linying delivers the complexity of this craziness in four tracks so effortlessly. It’s witchcraft, I tell you!
Needless to say, Linying has shaken us up with yet another release that we have cried to, smiled to, and loved! Already waiting for more? Well, a little birdie (Linying herself!) told us that an album is already in the works and will be making its way on a streaming service near us sometime this year!
You know what? Linying, your music is home. Your breathtaking cover art, which you designed utterly on your own and makes us feel a little something when we see it, is home. It’s knowing that your music sends a sense of healing through us that makes it home. Knowing that it’s been made with so much love by a passionate team makes it home. And we can’t wait for more with you.
Linying’s “House Mouse”
Check out Linying’s latest EP, “House Mouse”, on all streaming platforms, including Spotify and Apple Music. Watch her newest music video for Happiness on YouTube. To stay tuned to Linying’s bewitching music, check out her Instagram, TikTok and Facebook pages!
Photos by Brendan Tan of the DANAMIC Team.
