Síomónn Wan, a Singapore-born, London-based psychedelic pop maverick, thrashes unabashedly into the limelight with the arrival of his debut album, the much-lauded "Rhythm Phantom Poem Requiem." A sonically titillating blend of kaleidoscopic synths, contagious grooves, and limitless narrative, "Rhythm Phantom Poem Requiem" solidifies Wan as one of the most vital singers in contemporary music.
After a run of attention-grabbing 2024 releases, Wan's debut LP is a wild, genre-splicing trip that straddles the line between playful and heavy. From vertiginous electronic soundscapes to soaring pop melodies, Rhythm Phantom Poem Requiem is a ticket into a world where childhood fantasy meets existential reflection. Ten carefully assembled tracks, each with a whirlwind of emotion, energy, and head-altering creativity, were checked in at a little over 32 minutes.
"Music is my pen for exploring fantasies and putting thoughts to the paper," Wan says. "This record gives life to my dream as a child of cartoon-like characters accidentally eating poisonous mushrooms, fused with Dostoevsky's questions on the nature of reality. Tracks such as "Poppies" use my homeland's struggle with opium as a metaphor for contemporary warfare, and Quadruped and Mum Drum draw on personal experiences involving my dog, classmate, and mum."
Among the standouts are "Little Hero" , a blinding, pulse-driven anthem highlighting Wan's trademark euphoria, and "War with Time," an introspective yet infectious track grappling with the transience of being.
Wan has been building a niche from Leeds to London with his effervescent, dance-inflected sonic experiments. Rhythm Phantom Poem Requiem is less an album than a kaleidoscopic, hallucinatory adventure that erases the boundaries around the real.