Going the Extra Inch

When people ask for an Inch, they usually expect a mile; and who can blame them. Meet Inch Chua, a local singer/songwriter who have been making waves in both the local and foreign music scene since the tender age of 16. Having performed in various local events such as BayBeats in 2009 to her recent invitation to the SXSW(South By South West) music festival in Texas and the MIDI musical festival in Beijing early this year.

She has already released 2 EPs, the Bed Room and Peace, Love and Mistletoe and now for the much anticipated full-length album Wallflower. You can actually download the entire album off her website. Like her previous EPs, they are all under the licensing of Creative Commons whereby rather than fight the strong force of piracy and file-sharing she had decided to move with the trends.

As she explains “The focus should be put on live shows because we're bringing it back old school, where the artists put more heart and soul in performances. Now with the Internet and everything, it's so much easier to just put your music out there for free and encourage people to come down to shows -- pay to watch the live shows and enjoy the experience of being part of the music,"

This album can only described as of such, Morillo took the words straight from my mouth.' The album (Wallflower) features 11 new songs and “Rule The World” off of The Bedroom, all of which carry the same signature Inch vocal style and amusing marriage of acoustic and electronic elements. Her strong soprano voice easily holds down melodies in the middle and upper ranges and the accompaniment is neither overbearing nor underwhelming; the fluidity of the album lies in the musical arrangements, the perfect balance of give and take. Ambient electronic instruments are found in tracks like “Rule The World” where “Hurt” and “Have it Your Way” are stripped down. The album never gets to emotional extremes, favoring moments of bittersweet melancholy and moments of unadulterated joy. Despite the album’s solid production, vocal, and lyrical value, it doesn’t take itself too seriously. It’s an album for those everyday moments, not the moments we are having a great time in the club or after a personal tragedy. It’s an album that celebrates the present moment and I can only imagine that is a reflection of where Inch & Co. were during the making of this record: they were where they were, and it was called “now”.' (by Radio Morillo, Boom Boom Chik, 4 August, 2010)

Catch Inch and the Metric System on the 6 October at TAB at 930pm. Do check the facebook page if anyone is interested in coming down.