Penang-born Suzanne Low, who was discovered in The Voice Malaysia, has just released her first single in three languages
FOR the last eight years, Suzanne Low has been a regular in restaurants and nightspots around George Town, Penang.
Her soulful and caressing voice mesmerised diners who love a good mix of Malay, Chinese and English popular music for dine-in entertainment.
The Air Itam-born singer became well-known outside her home state when she participated in The Voice Malaysia in 2017 and Sing! China a year later. In both contests, she made it to the Top 20 and earned praise from the no-nonsense judges.
THREE VERSIONS
Low, 25, is set to become a household name soon as her debut Malay single, Disentuhi Cinta, has just been released.
Disentuhi Cinta is actually three songs. Besides the original Malay version, there is also an English version titled Endlessly and a Chinese version titled Zhi Dao Wo Men Yu Jian Ai.
They are supported by Rusa Entertainment, Universal Music Malaysia, MyCreative and Cendana (Cultural Economy Development Agency).
MANY CONTESTS
Low, the younger of two siblings, has been living in Kuala Lumpur for two years. Prior to this, she participated in many singing contests in Penang.
"My parents, especially my mother, love music, but so far I'm the only one in the family who wanted to become a singer and pursued this dream," said Low at a press preview of Disentuhi Cinta at Bungalow 37 in Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur, recently.
SHEILA MAJID FAN
A rhythm and blues fan, Low first dreamt of becoming a singer when she was 5. She counts Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, Celine Dion, Datuk Sheila Majid and Jaclyn Victor as her musical idols.
"My parents sent me for vocal classes when I was a teenager, and almost daily, I would tune into local radio stations to listen to chart-topping music," she said, adding that memorising Sheila's song lyrics helped improve her command of Malay.
BRILLIANT STRATEGY
"Actually, I recorded two Mandarin songs, Old Sofa and Letter On Sand, prior to Disentuhi Cinta. However, they didn't get much airplay," said Low, who is an artiste of Golden Shaw Entertainment Sdn Bhd.
When asked why she chose to have three versions of Disentuhi Cinta, she said that it was a "brilliant strategy" by her production team to reach out to multi-lingual music lovers.
"The Malay version of my song was written first, and then the English and Chinese versions.
"The producers suggested that singing an original song in three languages would herald my arrival in the local music scene with a bang, and I fully agree."
THREE DAYS
All three versions of Disentuhi Cinta were recorded in January. The song, which tells the story of a young woman who falls in love for the first time, took 12 hours to record in three days.
"The Malay version was wrapped up in four hours on the first day. The English and Chinese versions followed on the subsequent days. It was smooth sailing all the way. I loved the whole process as everyone was kind and understanding," said Low, who set up her own YouTube channel early this year.
She hopes to someday become a versatile recording artiste who sings, produces her own music videos and writes and composes her own songs.
"I plan to do things step by step. After the release of my first Malay song, I hope to have a mini concert in Kuala Lumpur to promote it. If all goes well, I may have another one in my hometown," she said.
MORE SONGS
When asked about her future projects, Low said that another Chinese song and two Malay songs were in the pipeline.
"The new Chinese song is more dance-oriented and has a K-Pop feel, which is just what many young Malaysians like," she said.
"As for the Malay songs, they are R&B and pop-oriented. One of them is supposed to be a duet with a popular singer. However, my producers haven't decided who he or she is."
REGULAR VENUES
Even though she is now based in Kuala Lumpur, Suzanne has not forgotten her "nightspot" roots and performs with various musicians and bands in major restaurants around the city.
"One of my regular venues right now is Suzie Wong — Dinner And Show, which is at Jalan Raja Chulan."
GREAT POTENTIAL
Yu Heng said that Low had great potential to go far as a singer because of her trilingual skills and soulful voice.
"She's passionate and serious, a perfectionist when it comes to work. Best of all, she is open-minded and willing to experiment with different music genres," he said.
Slen feels Low's new song ought to enter the Malaysia Book Of Records as she is the first non-Malay recording artiste to debut with a trilingual song.
"I love her work ethic and dedication. She does superb cover versions of popular songs on her YouTube channel and has received a lot of praises from netizens. I am confident that her next major milestone will be Anugerah Juara Lagu," he said.