root Sea Girls, a British indie rock band based in London, played their first ever show in Singapore on September 21 at Singapore’s Formula One Night Race. Formed in 2015, band members Henry Camamile, Rory Young, Andrew Dawson, and Oli Khan filled the Marina Bay Street Circuit with their larger-than-life energy and stage presence, which drew both fans and curious passers-by.
Despite it being their first time here, the band was greeted by raucous excitement from the crowd the moment they got on stage. Having never heard of this underground band, I was unsure of what to expect. But all my mixed emotions disappeared and my breath was taken away at the strum of the first chord.
Their opening song “Midnight Butterflies” filled my stomach with butterflies and excitement. The catchy tunes, coupled with the lyrical rhymes, had such an alluring effect that as their first song played on, the crowd grew into the hundreds, attracting individuals from all walks of life. For the next 45 minutes, everyone shared one similar space; everyone’s ears were on their captivating voices and heavenly melody.
The crowd screamed the wrong words to all their songs, but even then, you could tell these words were filled with love and adoration for the band that stood on stage. It was as if all the wrong words were a love letter from the audience, although many did not know who they were prior to their opening song.
If you were there, you could tell that in that instant, in the eyes of the band members, they had made it. What was once a dream to have their songs heard in another continent, Asia, had come true.
Sea Girls’ beautifully imperfect blend of gritty guitar riffs and soul-baring melodies hit me with a wave of raw emotion. But it wasn’t just their music, it was how they were bleeding every feeling out through their instruments that you could feel in your bones. I didn’t expect to become a fan, but almost all their songs have now become instant earworms, added to all my Spotify playlists, ready to be blasted on loop on my speakers.
“And they will play/All our favourite songs/And we could dance along” Camamile sang in “First on My List”. It’s only a matter of time till they return to our small island to make us once again dance on our feet all night long.
Sea Girls By Odelia Cera Lim