Tempo Talks: A Conversation with Kiey

THE RELEASE

Since 2019, singer-songwriter Kiey has taken a unique path in the pop genre. He cites influences from artists such as Troye Sivan, Lana Del Rey, Britney Spears, Utada Hikaru, and Bjork. Following the success of his debut album "Night To Myself," a poetic exploration into the riddles of nightlife, Kiey changed direction with his 2022-2023 sophomore effort "Sunday Sanctuary." Its bright and cinematic electro-pop sound exudes a strong vibe, featuring ear-catching chords. This is in contrast to the third album by Kiey, who currently divides his time between Germany and Taipei. Here he uses a minimalist approach—the bed of piano sound fonts, laying drums, and strings—to further enrich the music. Released on January 19, 2024, the lead single "white boy i sat next to on the plane" offers a tantalizing preview of this new sound.

In "white boy i sat next to on the plane," Kiey sets a hypnotic, bittersweet tone with his stripped-back, minimalistic pop. He draws inspiration from a particular personal experience—one that transcends the ordinary and steps into the magical, poetic realm. It chronicles a plane ride that, as Kiey explains it, “I met a boy on the right side of the plane, and when I got off, he was carrying his luggage. I imagined myself breaking out of my comfort zone and saying something to him in a parallel universe. You know—if I wasn’t so shy.” As magical as the song’s lyrical premise is its soundscape, which shows just how much care goes into crafting one of his emotionally charged, moving musical narratives as this single is. The song is a compelling preview of Kiey's upcoming album, and needless to say, you should expect to hear it sooner rather than later.

THE INTERVIEW

If you had to create a Mount Rushmore of inspiration, what four individuals molded the artist you are today?

I would say I grew up listening to the teen pops of early 2000s, so the artist that got me into Pop music would have to be Britney Spears. She was what I considered the perfect Pop artist in terms of music, performing and looks. However, the music I created isn’t similar to her music catalogue at all and it is only in the technicalities of her music production that I am inspired by. Another inspiration would be Madonna, I noticed that I reference her music videos a lot whenever I’m brainstorming my music videos with the directors. I listened to a lot of artists so I’m not sure sonically who would inspire my sound, but I can say that Lana Del Rey has been a staple in my playlists ever since she debuted, so in some levels, her lyricisms and vocal delivery do affect the way I sing. Despite listening to only a few of Troye Sivan’s and Joji’s songs, I think my music has a lot of similarities with them, so I would say they are sonically comparative.

Were there any personal experiences or stories that influenced the creation of the music video, and if so, how did they shape the final product?

The song itself is a real life experience on a plane that I was amused by and captured in the lyrics. For the visual, I always wanted it to be very simple and minimalistically white and gold. The music video’s story was then pitched to me by the director. He wanted to use the story of the golden Midas touch to illustrate the feeling of the song and I really liked that idea so we went ahead and that was the final product!

What was the most rewarding aspect of making the music video, and what message do you hope viewers take away from it?

I think the video perfectly illustrates the vision I had when I was making the song. I was very happy with the way it turns out and to have contemporary dancing in my music video has always been something I wanted to do. I felt that the story is quietly heartbreaking and I hope viewers felt a connection to the song and story and think back on past loves that could have been.

Can you share any interesting anecdotes about the song's development with your co-writers or producers?

For this upcoming album, I was playing with the idea of using samples as templates for songs. (for my previous album Sunday Sanctuary, I used chord progressions as the starting point). I had this piano riff first and it came from a really good impressionist piano album. I thought that it was very beautiful and I kept repeating it while I was travelling for work. It took me quite a while to determine what the lyrics were going to be about until the experience which occurred on the plane. I then put down the lyrics with some topline melodies and thought it would be very interesting to have a simplistic R&B beat underneath the song. The simple combination of the piano riff, the melody and the beat was so good that I kept it as it is and only built from there. This song was deceptively simple but had like 80+ tracks of very subtle sounds underneath it which was quite intricately made and I am so happy with the way it turns out!

When it comes to the songwriting on this record, what is the message you want to get across to your listeners?

I think as a whole, I’m not so much of an artist with a grand message, I’m more of an artist that captured a moment in time and wanted to relay a particular feeling or experience in a song. This song is essentially a stream of thoughts written in a poetry-like manner about a love that could have been. Infactuation so strong that you imagine having a life together with a stranger in another world and it plays out like a commercial.

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