If his hypnotic beats and energetic choreography are anything to go by, Kyle Waves is no stranger to making people want to dance. His latest single, “Rose-Tinted” represents this vibe perhaps best of all out of his previous tracks with its solidified, club-inspired sound. Where his earlier singles channel an almost mellower, ambient house mood, “Rose-Tinted” doesn’t shy away from panoramic vocal overlays and driving beats. Waves, as he navigates his 20s, pours his internal yet relatable tension into his lyrics, coupling the angst with undeniably intoxicating synth-pop to help chase the pain.
We sat down with him ahead of the release of “Rose-Tinted” to talk about creative inspo, future plans, and what it means to be a modern-day queer artist.
You grew up in Singapore before moving to London, I believe, right?
Yes, so I was actually born in Singapore, moved to London when I was a baby, and then moved back to Singapore when I was 14.
Okay, so now you’re in New York City.
Yes.
Having all of these cultures, how do you think that it influences your music, if at all?
I think quite a lot. I definitely pull a lot from Asian music culture in my music. I’ve grown up with a lot of K-pop and with C-pop in my life, so it’s definitely contributed to my sound and just how I approach music. Also, I think having grown up in a lot of places, I’ve had a lot of different influences from those different music cultures. So different artists have inspired me a lot that I probably wouldn’t have necessarily gravitated towards them had I not grown up there. But yeah, a lot of the early stuff definitely came in the UK, like listening to older bands, and then also Girls Aloud and the Spice Girls back at the time were really influential on me. They definitely played a part. It’s just a big mishmash in the music.
How would you describe your music to someone who has never listened to it before? What would you say is the perfect environment to listen to it? What’s the vibe?
I think that Kyle Waves’ music always sounds good in a club. Maybe not the danciest club, but like a nice gay club, industry vibes, or just with really good friends around, people that you’re happy to dance with. It’s always upbeat. Even if the music itself is sad in its lyrical content, it’s always good to dance to. I’d say those are my main things.
No, and I totally agree. Listening to your discography, I was sitting here, and I was totally dancing in my chair to it. I love it. It’s definitely dancey vibes for sure. So then, with your latest single “Rose-Tinted,” it sounds very self-assured and like a very solid next step in your catalogue. What do you think has changed, if anything, from writing your last song to the release of this song?
I wanted to explore being on the more introspective side here. I think I’m known for simpler-sounding electro, but this song felt grandiose in my mind. I really wanted to play around with what a more grandiose sound and more instrumentation would sound like for me. There’s a lot more going on in the elements with synths and with the bass being a lot heavier. I just wanted to see that progression from the simpler things into being this full dance club experience.
You’ve cited artists like Lexi Liu and Troye Sivan as inspirations, but who is on your On Repeat playlist right now that may have influenced your more recent songs?
They’re both definitely still there. I’ve been listening to a lot of old Kylie Minogue music because she was one of the first people that I really gravitated towards. She’s had this house-y, dance-y vibe in a lot of her older, early 2000s music that I’ve really been picking up on. Also artists that I’ve loved for a long time, like Robyn, have really definitely come through with the “Dancing On My Own” sound in this song. Ariana [Grande] has always been an influence. I always try to emulate a little bit of her vocal layering styles and her lyricism into my songs, but they’ve definitely been on the list. I’ve been getting more into the newer girl groups. Flow has really been up there for me, and also Say Now has been a new thing that’s come up for me. Those sounds are trying to come up a little bit more.
And who would you say lyrically is an inspiration?
I think definitely, Kylie is still a lyrical inspiration for me. I also think that Tinashe’s lyricism and how fun she makes her songs, while still having those varieties of emotions in her writing, has been very influential on me. I really love all of her discography, so I definitely try to emulate that.
With “Rose-Tinted,” is there a specific scenario that influenced the lyrics of it? Overall, when you’re writing your lyrics, do you pull from specific situations, or do you want to tell a broader story?
With this song specifically, I’m sure a lot of people can relate, but I’m in my twenties and being in this age range, I definitely feel a lot of self-doubt and questions about whether I’m doing the right thing. Especially as an artist, it’s really easy to get caught up in wondering if you’re actually pursuing the right track. [“Rose-Tinted”] was very influenced by a lot of those feelings and trying to put them into words. But also, it’s kind of a way to let them out, to heal from those feelings and give myself permission to feel those things while remembering that there’s always a path forward and that it’s normal to feel these things. But you shouldn’t dwell on them and get stuck in them.
In your description of the song, you said that it was like dancing in slow motion, under neon lights. I don’t know if you’ve seen Heated Rivalry, but that really reminded me of the club scene in that show. So, in that similar vein, is there any TV show, movie, whatever where it would be the craziest place to see your music featured?
I would love to be in any sort of queer TV show. I think this song specifically feels very “it” in the world of Overcompensating. Those feelings [in the song] especially are something that I think, in college, even, that come a lot. So yeah, any sort of queer, gay show where I think a lot of my music really fits into that world.
What does being a queer artist mean to you? What do you hope your music translates as to queer individuals who are listening to it?
For me, being a queer artist has always just been about putting my true self forward and being somebody that people can look at and say, “Oh, I see a lot of myself there, and my experiences are valid, and my life is valid.” I’m always trying to be very open to growing my worldview in queerness because it is always changing and there are always different ways to present yourself. So I try to be very open to having anyone listen to my music and to hopefully take away something that feels like a part of them is being seen. I just think queerness has always been so integral to me, and so being able to represent that on a bigger scale and to other people… I hope people vibe with it and can feel represented.
You have singing, obviously, and then you have choreographed dances to your songs. The only thing left that would make you a triple threat is acting. Have you acted before? Do you plan to act?
Funnily enough, I went to acting school for college, and all my earliest stage performances were on the West End in London, so I was actually an actor technically before I was a singer. I definitely am trying to get back into that scene now. A lot of what inspired me to start my music career was that during the pandemic, when I graduated, there wasn’t really any acting work. It’s flipping back around now, where I’m like, “Oh, I should revisit that, and I should do some things.” In February, I filmed a new vertical shorts thing where I have a small speaking role. So I am trying to get back into it.
I’ve spoken to some artists who are really into the idea of integrating their music into a short film. Would you ever consider something like that, like a longer work that features your music and acting?
Honestly, yeah. I would love to do something like that. I think if the right situation comes along, or if I can even write something myself that fits everything well together, I definitely want to do that. I’m such a perfectionist when it comes to how I want my work to be presented and what I see for it. I would love to be involved in that, as well as just acting in it too. I think that would be really cool.
Then, besides those ambitions, what’s the rest of your year looking like? Do you have any future singles that you’re going to release? Is there an album coming up? What are your future plans?
Well, I’m hoping this year is going to be a lot of live performing. I have a show coming up next week on Tuesday [April 21] to start off that. Then hopefully there’ll be more throughout the year. This year, I haven’t really decided if I want to do anything beyond singles at the moment. I do have more singles coming out and planned, but I’m feeling this year’s a bit more work on the stuff outside of just the music releases, and then having them slotted in rather than committing to a big project. Because I released an EP last year, and I think I’m still riding that wave of that sound. But yeah, if something starts shaping up and maybe I see that there’s a project there, maybe there will be. But right now it’s mostly singles.
Can you give any hints as to what your future singles may sound like, what they might be about? Are there any tidbits you can share?
The next one in the pipeline after this is a bit more… It’s a little sexy. It’s a little bit of internet-boy-type vibes. I’m trying to play around a lot more with exploring within my genre and doing different things and seeing what really resonates this year. So, a variety of sounds and tempos, but still very Kyle Waves vibes.
