Qeeran goes deep on his new debut album IN RETROSPECT, but the singer-songwriter has more stories to tell with his track-by-track guide exclusively for Happy Mag.
Listen to Qeeran’s new album IN RETROSPECT and you’ll know almost immediately how personal the project is. Across nine tracks, the Melbourne-based singer-songwriter chronicles the highs and lows of the 20-something experience, from unrequited romance to defiant self-confidence — offering brief vignettes informed by his own encounters with love, heartbreak and everything in between.
Qeeran’s diary-like lyricism and vulnerability is as essential to IN RETROSPECT as its enchanting production, which opts for expansive R&B as a medium for brooding storytelling. The debut project is evidently the work of an artist pouring himself into his craft, using the “context of a song [to] to process [experiences] in a much deeper capacity,” Qeeran explained in a press statement.
While much can be learned about Qeeran’s life within the album itself — from the lovelorn yearning of latest single GIVE AND TAKE to the gratitude of RIGHT HERE — it’s clear that the lyrics on IN RETROSPECT are only a small part of the singer’s story. Below, we caught up with Qeeran for a track-by-track run-through of his debut project. Scroll down for the intent behind each track, and head here to listen to IN RETROSPECT.
IN RETROSPECT
I’ve never had a chance to play with intros and outros until this point so I had so much fun creating this for the album. There’s lots of bells, soft-edged ethereal sounds with my whispery vocals sitting behind, things to make listeners to truly feel like they were officially stepping into my world.
HOLD ME
This was the one of the more technically difficult songs to create for this album. There are darker undertones and lots of sensuality in the soundscape for this song – reflective of the lyrical content. I had recently entered a relationship when I began this song and wanted to capture the excitement and all that comes with embarking on a new relationship. The pleasure, the fun, the total dedication and trust. The guitar at the end of the beat switch was a tasteful inclusion by talented musician and good friend Macson Pizzinga who has worked on a couple songs with me previously.
LIKE YOUR MAN
This was the first track I worked on and released for the album during lockdown back in August 2021. It is a complicated song with a very dynamic arrangement, but I’ve been able to grow a lot more skill-wise and writing-wise since this single. It sits within the soundscape of HOLD ME and NURTURE as it is equally intense and dark, hence the placement in the tracklist. I love the vocal chops on it and the fact that my vocals take a back seat for majority of this track.
NURTURE
My most personal song on the album. As I was born in Malaysia, I made the move with my family to Melbourne, Australia back in 2006 when I was just about to turn 6. When we moved, my dad remained in Malaysia to work for one year to keep us afloat financially, leaving my mum, brother and I here isolated from him with no other family in Australia.
The track serves as a “look at me now” moment, showcasing the emotional growth I underwent having to face racially-motivated bullying in my early primary days here while not having dad around, and mum single-handedly having to navigate an entirely new country and raise two kids at the same time.
I was listening to a lot of Sabrina Claudio at the time, and I wrote and produced this with my partner Jesse who was immensely helpful in capturing my experiences and emotions within the lyrics and production. He wrote the entire outro so naturally in 5 minutes and gave me the confidence to finish this song as I almost scrapped this track from the album.
MUTUAL
This track was the easiest to produce and write, and the quickest – took me only about 2 weeks from start and finish. I love the soulful guitar and slightly more upbeat feel to it. I wrote it about my want for transparency/reciprocation with feelings – written in the early days of my relationship with my partner now.
GIVE AND TAKE
This is a straight-forward track topic wise. Written about feeling frustrated and exhausted from giving too much to another person and getting less than what you deserve back. This was the last single from the album and I wanted to give listeners a peak into the range of sounds of the album with this track as it sits within a higher tempo. I started this song back in May of 2022 and finished it January of this year.
IN THE END
Although this sounds like a breakup song, this is very much the opposite. I was feeling very emotional and sentimental on the day I wrote this and was on FaceTime with my partner now while writing this. The lyrics fell out almost immediately and I had the song written within 30 minutes. I didn’t have any melodic ideas for the vocal arrangement yet, but I just knew the lyrics would remain what they are now. Another very personal track.
RIGHT HERE
This was the second single I put out for the album. This track took me an entire year from start to release and is very reflective of the self-growth I talk about throughout the album. A perfect way to close up the album and has a very dreamy feel to it.
LET THE CREDITS ROLL
As a closing track, this track is almost comical in a way. It is a very big “F*** You!” to my previous partners and enemies and I wanted to end the album on a slightly lighter note, despite the very loaded lyrics.
