Djeannie Lee + MFRL are a talented young indie duo hailing from Penang (ok, Djeannie is from Kedah but that’s just like a suburb of Penang anyway). Their brand of music intertwines 90s alt rock vocals together with electronic new age synths. Imagine the vocals of Yuki Chikudate from New York’s dream pop/shoegaze band Asobi Seksu fused together with the synths of chillwave talent, Toro Y Moi. Add a dark melancholy ambience to that and you get their first track Syren

“Syren is a song about relationships in the past,” said Djeannie Lee. “The first few initial tracks which I wrote previously, was when I was going through dark times. When Jo Ann (MFRL) came along and we formed +2dB together, it got even darker musically!”

 

The first thing that comes to your mind when you first listen to the track is how on earth a song can sound so dark and gloomy yet sounding so innocent pure and beautiful. With the lyrics written by MFRL, the stark contrast from both these emotional extremes pays a tribute to how good vocally +2dB really are. DJeannie who provides the lead vocals for this track, has a very unique voice which not only blends in with the aesthetics of the song but together with MFRL’s harmonisation both their vocals gives the song a life of it’s own.

 

Syren caught the attention of one KL’s most renowned dubstep Dj/producers, H3 who ended up collaborating with the duo to come up with Syren Part II. His incorporation of his dub influenced beats into the song, turns it into a mashup of vocal harmonies and bass.

 

You can check out both the original track and part II below here:-

ORIGINAL SYREN

Latest tracks by djeannielee+mfrl

 

SYREN pt II