Nathan Hartono returns with a new Mandarin single "Make It Right" as he looks back on his journey as a singer
SINGAPORE – Singer-songwriter Nathan Hartono is back with a new Mandarin single titled “Make It Right”. The Chinese title of the song, “排过的队”, essentially translates to “the line that I queued for”.
Composed by Nathan Hartono himself, the song is a groovy melody that inadvertently makes you bop your head along with it.
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The music video starts of by showing a “Missing” poster with Hartono’s face plastered on it with the words, “Disappeared 3 weeks ago. Last seen on Instagram.” It followed up with someone keying his name in the search engine bar but no results were returned.
The MV alludes to Hartono's 3-year long disappearance from the music scene after emerging as the runner-up in the “Sing! China” competition in 2016 and his take on the extreme dependence on technology and social media's intrusion in everyone’s daily lives.
In the song, Hartono croons about his ups-and-downs in the music industry in recent years as he looks back on his journey as a singer.
If you didn’t already know, Hartono made his debut as a singer after he won the Teenage Icon singing competition in 2005 and released his debut album, LET ME SING! Life, Love and All That Jazz in 2006. He finally got his big break when he competed in the Chinese singing competition and his popularity catapulted from a little-known jazz singer to putting Singapore on the map (he’s a trueborn Singaporean).
With the theme of "waiting in line" in the pursuit of a music career, the lyrics describe the various states that a budding music artist faces - "silence", "opportunity", "reality" and "contradiction.”
He sings about being “Disillusioned by the reality of anticipation” which could refer to being disappointed though having waited in line for an opportunity, pointing to his long-awaited big break.
“From that day on, I’m finding time for me. The silence was my only friend.” – referring to the radio silence being his company, when he was waiting to hear back from someone.
So is growing up through suffering the right path?” – He questions himself the need to go through tough times to grow as an artist.
Nathan Hartono hopes to showcase his growth with a variety of musical styles that will be revealed through his releases with Warner Music China.
Listen to “Make It Right” now: https://wmsg.lnk.to/nathanhartono-MakeItRight
