TRACE and Ariel Loh - “Sài Gòn”
Photo by Brandon M Young TRACE is a queer Vietnamese American songwriter and filmmaker, and Ariel Loh is a trans queer Asian American producer. The pair have just released a cover of "Sài Gòn ," a Vietnamese song made famous by Carol Kim (TRACE's mother) fifty years ago. The song is included in NEW WAVE , a documentary about the 1980's New Wave scene in Vietnam. The cover version is a delicate sounding version of dream pop. You can tell it was recorded with love and appreciation of the original. The song is as minimal as you can be while still having a lush and full sound. TRACE and Ariel Loh have made an intensely intimate cover of a song very close to them, and it can be heard in their recording. TRACE says of her new single: "The first time I heard 'Sai Gon,' I was captivated—it was my mom singing nearly fifty years ago. I heard it on a vinyl called Saigon Supersounds that Y Vân’s granddaughter actually told me about. I bought it right away. When I ask...