LISTEN: Looi Creates Ethereal Jazz With Soulful Vocals and Pop Undertones on “Sunnier Side”

Looi is a New York-based, New Jersey-bred singer, songwriter, and producer. At 26, she has been writing songs for half of her life and singing and performing for as long as she can remember, most recently headlining the acclaimed Mercury Lounge in New York’s Lower East Side neighborhood. Looi is currently working on releasing her debut EP — an intergenerational exploration of her Chinese-Malaysian heritage, sonically rooted in the indie genre with influences from alt-rock, electronic, neo-soul, and folk palettes.

On her new single, “Sunnier Side,” Looi finds the middle ground between carefree lushness and sentimental poetry. The latest single has Looi’s dreamlike vocals cascading around jazzy-pop simplicity for a moving ballad. The magic lies in the minimalism of “Sunnier Side.” The way playful backing vocals round out the arrangement gives the song some catchy movement without sounding overproduced. Looi’s natural knack for crafting pop melodies while nodding to nostalgic neo-soul allows her vocals to blend in with the emotions expressed in the lyrics. Looi looks to hold on to the remaining days of summer by crafting infectious pop with jazzy undertones on “Sunnier Side.” 

“‘Sunnier Side’ is a bittersweet one for me. I wrote it as a love letter to myself during what felt like the loneliest period of my life,” explains Looi. “I really wanted to land on a sound that was both uplifting — because that’s what I needed at the time — but also reflective and gentle. A lightness born out of a heaviness.”