The acclaimed singer-songwriter based in Singapore, Jean Tan will be releasing her new single “Oak Cherry Wine” on July 24 (Friday) via Leeway and various digital and streaming platforms worldwide. “Oak Cherry Wine” is inspired by recent events in her life: her personal health struggles with kidney disease and the man who married her despite the uncertainty of a lifetime together.
Perhaps it’s why it feels so powerful despite the simple instrumentation of keys and a couple of guitars. Everything is felt so keenly from the moment Jean whispers 1, 2, 3, 4 in your ear at the start to the soaring, dulcet tones of the chorus: I love you / and it’s funny how / I’ll need you and breathe you / Be with you every moment now…
“Oak Cherry Wine” is Jean’s third and final single before the anticipated 5-song EP is released in fall 2020, produced and arranged by Singaporean R&B artist and multi-instrumentalist Dru Chen. Her music is a blend of folk, indie, and vocal jazz.
Definitely not just another love song, though familiar themes of courtship and romance feature like they do in the previous singles, this is perhaps Jean’s most personal release to date. This is an ode to love, but a deeper kind – one that grows better with age, holds steady in both the valley and mountain moments. It is a lettred’amour to the lover who decides to stay for better and worse, richer and poorer, in sickness and in health.
Even in the simplicity of the arrangement, the listener is taken on a journey as the melodies of the two guitars dance around each other like two binary stars. Seventh chords. A walking, no, skipping bass line. An unexpected twinkling of the electric piano right at the end to bring it all home.
The song offers endless contrasts and complexity in so few elements that it’s hard not to be intrigued. It is sentimental, but fierce. Sweet but not saccharine. A glass of oak cherry wine, tilted to the lips – bittersweet, familiar, true.
Lyrics of Oak Cherry Wine
VERSE 1:
My oak cherry wine
My mortal and divine
Bright strokes of colour
Brush past my cheeks in your night
VERSE 2:
Sweet as honey, rich as gold
Innocent as songs of old
The romance of you
Familiar and true
The charm in your whispers
Just makes me say I
CHORUS:
Love you, I love you
I love you, and it’s funny how
I’ll need you, breathe you
Be with you every moment now
My heart’s yours for a lifetime
Yours for the good times
Yours through the blue times
Oh how I’m lovin’ you
VERSE 3:
Oh sweet cherry wine
Taste of oak in your vine
The romance of you
Familiar and true
The charm in your whispers
The charm in your whispers
Just makes me say I
[Repeat chorus]
TAG:
How I’m lovin’ you
Baby how I’m lovin’ you
Single Credits
Music and words by Jean Tan
Produced and mixed by Dru Chen
Guitar, Keyboards, and Organ by Dru Chen
Additional Guitar by Leo Goh
Mastered by Cameron Henry
Artwork by Lee Wen Ling
© 2020 Leeway.
Follow Jean Tan on Social Media: http://www.jeantan.com; https://instagram.com/jeantanmusic; https://facebook.com/jeantanmusic/; https://twitter.com/jeantanmusic; https://www.youtube.com/user/jeantanmusic
