After several peppy and fast-paced song releases, singer-songwriter shazza hits the brakes and pulls on heartstrings with the release of her newest single “Rain In Manhattan” on 24th May 2024, marking the maiden release of a brand new regional collaborative EP. Joining her with his smooth, buttery vocals on this lovestruck tale is Singaporean singer-songwriter, Umar Sirhan. Marking an exciting new chapter in her career, shazza also officially announced that she would be co-managed by independent label Cross Ratio Entertainment and major label Warner Music Singapore.
“Rain In Manhattan” tells the story of two love-struck souls in New York City, as they navigate their emotional turmoil, finding their way back to one another after taking separate roads to discover themselves. In this narrative follow-up to the story behind her most successful release to date, “Right Person, Wrong Time,” here is the journey of love lost, now found, with “Rain In Manhattan.”
“I love the fact that I get to tell special stories in my songs that hold profound meaning in my life. With ‘Rain In Manhattan’, I wanted to take my listeners on a sensorial experience of this story, not just to immerse them in the song but to take them on a fantastical journey with us to New York and back,” says shazza.
The song name-drops many places in New York City, including the titular borough, Manhattan. Romanticizing the geographical notions, the young singer-songwriters imagined a faraway place to encapsulate the profound emotional and spatial distance between two lovers. As a city that simultaneously fulfills and crushes the hopes and dreams of many, New York stands to be a place where possibilities are endless, mirroring the unpredictable essence of romantic entanglements. Flowing like a whispered conversation of hopeful promise, “Rain In Manhattan” takes you on a melodic voyage through the city’s nocturnal downpour.
shazza and Umar wrote the track in 2018, and first performed it at shazza’s sold-out debut concert Chapter One held in 2023. The song was praised by audiences as a highlight of the concert, and fans will be delighted to tune in to this highly anticipated collaboration in its full glory. Featuring an eight-piece live band, shazza and Umar recreate a moment of magical suspension in time, bringing an electric and immersive touch to the song.
“We recorded the song in a day. I was greatly reminded of the way the song almost wrote itself back when we first started work on it”, Umar Sirhan adds. “Working with shazza was a dream, she’s wildly talented, clear with her vision and not to mention an absolute comedian. Recording the vocal tracks in tandem was brilliant as I don’t often get to track duets in that fashion. It felt organic, which I think comes through nicely in the song.”
Speaking on the deal with Cross Ratio Entertainment and Warner Music Singapore, shazza shares, “This is a very exciting endeavor for me, and I’m stoked to see where it’s going to lead. I just wanna make good music and art for people to experience and relate to, and I’m grateful for the chance to do it in this context.”
With an infectious positivity and unwavering dedication to her craft, shazza has garnered a rapidly growing fanbase, becoming a voice for her generation and representing diversity and empowerment in her music. Her recent inclusion in Spotify’s RADAR 2023 program solidified her status as one of Singapore’s fastest-rising stars.
With this first single out of this collaboration EP, shazza cannot contain her excitement for what’s to come.
“I really can’t wait to work on this EP. It’s a super exciting project for me, especially because collaboration is one of my favorite things about making music. I am so happy to be kicking the project off with this song, given how much it means to me. My main goal is to explore as much as I can with this collaborative EP, and a big hope of mine is also to travel the world and experience sharing my music with audiences beyond our borders,” she shares.
Fans can expect even more electrifying music and memorable performances from this rising star in the year ahead.
“Rain In Manhattan” is slated to be released on all digital platforms worldwide on 24th May 2024.
