Singaporean indie artist Shye chooses to see beauty in imperfection

Ever since Singaporean singer-songwriter Shye could remember, a keyboard had sat in the corner of her childhood home. 

She did not come from a family of musicians. That instrument had always just maintained a quiet presence in their space, and she and her family members never figured out why. But when she took a serious liking to music as a teenager, it would seem as though the black and white keys were meant to be there all along. 

Shye had always loved to sing — even if it was just for fun — and would soon begin experimenting with writing songs and making her own music. With the help of YouTube tutorials and the GarageBand app on her school laptop, she would teach herself everything a beginner needed to know about music production, mixing, and mastering. 

“I think it was only after doing it for maybe two years that I realized this is something that I want to continue and make it my full-time thing if possible,” Shye told Rappler.  

And for the past seven years, Shye has continuously created art she could proudly call her own — taking her music from the four walls of her bedroom to the rest of the world. 

Not one to be boxed in

Shye was just 16 when she began this whole music thing. Most kids that age are preoccupied with school and extracurriculars, but Shye was already fashioning melodies in her spare time. It’s safe to say, then, that she had really grown up with music by her side. Being a self-confessed introvert who mostly kept to herself, it did the work for her when she couldn’t find the words to convey her thoughts. 

“In school, music became that safe space, and even now, it’s the same. I’m not good with words, but for some reason, I can write lyrics better than I can express myself when speaking,” she shared. 

The now-23-year-old jumped into it all with no prior knowledge or expectations, either. To keep it going, all that was left for her to do was to trust her gut and understand that this is a long game. 

As a self-taught artist, though, Shye could really only rely on her own skills to build the dreamy sound she’d come to be known for. Admitting that she couldn’t play guitar that well back then, her earlier tracks leaned more towards the use of synths and keys — and took the shape of electronic and bedroom pop.

“That was what was slightly more available for me to make because you just press buttons rather than learn an instrument,” Shye said. 

Still, Shye didn’t want to box herself into a single genre. If you go through her catalogue from 2019 to the present, you’d hear traces of R&B, heavy electronic pop, and soft rock — almost like you’re opening up a time capsule where all her eras have been stored.  

“I think because I didn’t have any prior knowledge, it was very easy to go into it with a very open mind. Up to this day, I do feel a bit of imposter syndrome because, sometimes, when you’re a girl, and you’re doing production and the technical side of things, some men think that you might not know what you’re doing. But I realized my work will show for it. I don’t have anything to prove to anyone. But it’s always just about being open to different genres, open to learning and growing,” she told Rappler. 

She was starting this all from scratch, so it only made sense for her to swerve into all these sonic lanes so constantly in pursuit of her own sound. These days, Shye’s songs fit more into alternative rock, but no matter the shape her music takes, that hazy feeling of tuning into her work never goes away. It’s a sort of dreaminess that reels you in, and that’s the core of who Shye is. 

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“I’ve always been more drawn to that kind of [sound]. Even though the music now is very different in terms of genre, I feel like the feeling is still very much me. So, I don’t feel like I’ve put on a new persona,” she said. 

Beauty in imperfection

Studio perfection may be the gold standard in creating music, but there’s a gritty charm to leaving traces of the exact opposite in a body of artistic work. It tells a deeper story, and most importantly, in the age of artificial intelligence, it’s a telltale sign this work is purely human. 

Shye doesn’t see these little blemishes as mistakes, but as an intentional part of her work. “Of course, it’s good to make the music sound good, but sometimes, I like to purposely leave certain things that may not necessarily be correct in the mix because I feel like that offers a very human aspect to the music, which is something that AI will never be able to replicate.”

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And through and through, Shye’s music serves as a reflection of her inner world. Young love and innocent crushes ran through her mind as a teen, but lately, she’s taken to writing more about what it’s like to feel lost and find yourself again, and the journey it takes to acknowledge that struggle. 

“I try to tell people what they don’t want to hear, but in a nice, relaxing way. So, indirectly, it makes things a bit easier to take because rather than someone telling you you need to work on yourself, it’s nicer if someone approaches you like, ‘Hey, maybe you should try this or that,'” she said. 

But it didn’t come naturally to Shye at the outset. When you’re putting out this much emotion into the world and baring your soul for everyone to see, it gets draining, so it’s really important for her to take breathers in between, whether that’s playing with her dog and three cats or watching films to keep her creativity flowing.   

Even then, she fully believes that’s what music should be about: connection through shared experiences. 

“Sometimes, you never know what others are going through. They could listen to a song and be like, ‘This is exactly how I’ve been feeling, but I haven’t been able to figure out how to say it.’ So, it’s a very special thing,” she told Rappler. 

Sure as she may seem about her artistic identity, however, things haven’t always been that way for her. It was in 2024 when she first came to Manila to represent Singapore in the ASIYA Fest. She closed out a full set of original songs with a cover of IV OF SPADES’ “Come Inside of My Heart” that got people to flock to her side of the stage. All that time, she had been quietly dealing with a rough patch in her career. 

She felt lost and didn’t know where her music was going — but perhaps she came to Manila at the right time. 

“For some reason, when I came to Manila and was in an environment full of such welcoming people, and the crowd and their love for music, and also meeting people that I really look up to in music, it kind of felt like a switch just clicked in my head. From then on, I was like, ‘Yeah, I know what I’m going to do, and I’m just going to keep doing that.'”

Now, Shye is as sure of her artistry as ever. She isn’t trying to be anyone else but herself. Just listen to her music, and let it speak for itself. 

“My music is not a persona that I’m putting on. It’s not a mask. It’s just me. So, whether they like it or they don’t like it, it’s fine. But I hope that what they take away from it is that this is a genuine person who is just writing about their experiences and creating music from there,” she told Rappler. 

And whether or not you choose to stay, Shye is fine with it either way. – Rappler.com