here is little information to be found on Singaporean singer/songwriter Aisyah Aziz. An Internet search uncovers the fact that the 28-year-old chanteuse is wildly popular in Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia, where she appears as a performer, fashion model and actress. In November of 2017, at age 23, she was invited to perform at the Mnet Asian Music Awards (MAMA), held at the Hoa Binh Theater in Vietnam, where she took home the Best Asian Artist Singapore award. Earlier that year she attended the Anugerah Planet Muzik (APM) awards show, where she won Best APM Song, Best Song (Singapore) for “Senyum Saja,” a duet with fellow Singaporean singer Haikal Ali, and Best Collaboration for “Tanda Tanya.”

Fellow Groove Note artist Vanessa Fernandez recommended Aisyah to label head Ying Tan, also a founding member of Classic Records, and the rest, as they say, is history. Pearls is Aisyah's first fully independent session. Recorded and mixed digitally at 24 bits/96kHz, Pearls was mastered by Bernie Grundman at BGM in Hollywood, where he also cut the lacquers for the double-45rpm set. Pressed at RTI, the album is among the quietest I’ve ever heard, in addition to having overall fine sound. The twelve songs (three per side) cover a wide array of modern pop and rock styles. The band, made up of mostly fellow Singaporean musicians, includes bass/cello, violin, drums, guitar, keyboards, saxophone and trumpet, all playing tasty arrangements by guitarist Sebastian Ho. Songs covered included iconic classics from Lou Reed, Bob Dylan and Prince, along with hits from Sade, Roberta Flack and Chris Isaac. Aisyah also covers more recent hits from Billie Eilish and Lianne La Havas. Others include such disparate styles as Charlie Chaplin’s “Smile,” Radiohead’s “High & Dry,” and Connie Rae’s “Like A Star.” Unfortunately, we are not treated to Aisyah's songwriting skills, because none of the songs is one of hers.

Highlights for me are all of side B (“Walk On the Wild Side,” “Killing Me Softly” and “Purple Rain”) and side C (“High & Dry” and the title song, “Pearls”). Lou Reed’s tour de force gets a superb treatment here with a “plucky” bass line pushed by the martial drumming running beneath the edgy lyrics, while the guitar carries on with its wah-wah effects. Aisyah aims high here and hits all the notes in her distinctive “chirruped” voice. All of this takes place amid an air of jollity. Next up, after an unaccompanied vocal intro, the electric piano, drums and bass create a seductively nostalgic atmosphere for the song, “Killing Me Softly,” that launched hundreds of thousands of sales for Roberta Flack. Aisyah makes it her own. Fabian Lim’s sax lends color to the mix, adding just the right amount of retro, noirish feel. Closing out the side, Prince’s signature song, “Purple Rain,” finds Aisyah opening in the middle register with only piano accompaniment. It’s not long before she again takes the high road and finds guitar and bass filling in beneath her soaring voice. A beautiful bass solo follows and leads into wordless warbling. This soon becomes a showcase for Aisyah's lithe singing style before the song ends with more fine bass work. “High & Dry,” a hit for Radiohead, gets a rather straightforward treatment, with an intimate intro bathed in cherub-like electronic effects leading into the body of the song, which proceeds at a leisurely pace until the spoken ending, which segues into Billie Eilish’s “Bellyache,” itself delivered with ample amounts of little-girl charm. The title song, “Pearls,” features some fine alto-sax work by Lim, tasteful bass from Colin Young, and Aisyah in an often surprisingly sultry voice.