TRACE and Ariel Loh release new single "Sài Gòn;”
TRACE and Ariel Loh release new single "Sài Gòn”
New single featured in critically acclaimed documentary New Wave
Stream: “Sài Gòn” on YouTube and All Digital Platforms
TRACE (Queer Vietnamese American songwriter/filmmaker) & Ariel Loh (trans queer Asian American producer) cover Vietnamese classic “Sài Gòn,” a song first made famous 50 years ago by performer Carol Kim (TRACE’s mom). The song debuted today at Taro Magazine and is on all streaming platforms for any playlist shares.
This minimal, dream pop cover is featured prominently in new documentary NEW WAVE, about Vietnam’s 1980’s New Wave music scene (by Chinese Vietnamese American filmmaker Elizabeth Ai, w/ exec producer Simu Liu). NEW WAVE documentary film has been praised by New York Times, Vogue, Tribeca film fest, & more.
The documentary film New Wave which prominently features the cover song is currently screening in select theatres in NYC. It will premiere on the West Coast at the Viet Film Festival in Santa Ana, CA on October 12 and be shown at the BAAFF Boston Film Festival on October 26.
On the song TRACE says:
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 asked my mom if she remembered, she laughed, saying, “That was so long ago, I guess that is me.” Though an anthem of sorts about the heart of Vietnam during a war-stricken time, her recording has this upbeat French pop and New Wave influence that makes it easily my favorite version of the song. Yet, learning she recorded it just before the Fall of Saigon added emotional weight to the music for me.
When I heard about a documentary called New Wave, I was eager to get involved, as my mom had been a part of that musical movement. And so in perfect time, and along with my friend and collaborator, we recorded and covered “Sai Gon” for the film. It was nerve-wracking, but one of the greatest honors of my life. My mother’s legacy is powerful, and I’m grateful to share my heart through this song.
ABOUT TRACE
Leaving behind her days as a magazine editor to pursue music head on, TRACE has racked up a total of 60 million streams alone with her first EP that was recorded in the bathroom of her Glassell Park apartment plus a handful of standalone singles and two other EPs released to date. Championed by the likes of Indie Shuffle, Pigeons & Planes, Refinery29, Teen Vogue, The Line Of Best Fit and The Fader to name a few, it’s no surprise she’s working with some of the best in the game. TRACE has been in the studio with producers and co-writers including Mike Derenzo (Tiffany Young, Cautious Clay, EXES), Bram Inscore (Troye Sivan, Allie X, 88 Rising), Haley Gene Penner (Charlotte Lawrence, Lennon Stella), and Phoebe Ryan (Britney Spears, The Knocks, The Chainsmokers).
In 2016, TRACE brought her first EP Low to live through a Kickstarter campaign. The 4-track project earned her comparisons to the “west-coast cool of Lana Del Rey” and the “R&B-kissed ruminations of James Blake,” as well as over 20 million streams and her first record deal. In early 2018, TRACE made her Ultra Music debut with her single “Blood and Bones,” followed by the release of two more singles: “Side Eye” (which was featured on The Fader's fall list of ‘Best New Pop Songs’) and "Anxiety." For the latter, TRACE partnered with the California chapter of the non-profit organization National Alliance on Mental Health (NAMI) to raise awareness on anxiety in the entertainment industry. In the Spring of 2021, TRACE did a takeover curating Spotify’s DOPE AF playlist, which highlights Asian Female artists. Specifically spotlighting awareness to both the #stopAsiannhate movement as well as her non-profit of choice: Asian Mental Health Collective.
Having built a career as a musician for a decade (despite trying to not follow her mother's glamorous and legendary footsteps), the bending of words through melodies and confession has taught her new corners of herself, taking her on the path framed by deep gratitude and healing. In the last few years, TRACE has naturally found expansion in her storytelling beyond her songs and has been feverishly writing more and more narrative, specifically, film. In 2020, during a blessed and forced reflection, TRACE spent her time writing long form about her and her mother’s lives, paralleled by chasing very similar dreams from very different perspectives. This reckoning sparked more and more internal investigation and by the end of 2023, after years of writing iterations of her findings, TRACE wrote and directed her first short film, “No More Sad Songs.”
ABOUT ARIEL LOH
Ariel Loh (they/them) is a trans and queer Asian American music producer, mixer and composer based in Los Angeles and Brooklyn. Their work has made appearances on Billboard, Rolling Stone, BBC, NPR, Pitchfork, Vice, MTV, as well as major streaming services Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, and Apple TV Plus. Their education in recording started at SUNY Purchase and was then fostered under the likes of Steve Albini (Electrical Audio), James Iha and Adam Schlesinger (Stratosphere Sound), and Joel Hamilton (Studio G).
As a producer, Ariel is accredited with developing the sounds of artists such as Yoke Lore (whom they received a RIAA Gold Certification for the song Beige), Cape Francis, Plastic Picnic, Drinker, and more. Their productions have amassed over 500 million streams on Spotify. They also produce ambient music under the moniker Window Seat.
As a composer, Variety has praised “the buzzing synths and rattling winds of Loh’s alien-electro score” for their theatrical debut in The Eyes Of My Mother directed by Nicolas Pesce at Sundance Film Festival 2016, which was subsequently picked up by Waxwork Records for a limited-run vinyl release in 2018. They have since gone on to score wide-ranging projects from a short documentary series with the Stanley Kubrick Archive to Apple TV’s children’s show Get Rolling With Otis to writing the theme song for Tommy Dorfman’s podcast My First Time. Upcoming projects include a full score for Pesce’s fourth feature film Visitation.
As a mixer, Ariel’s unique viewpoint of being an audio engineer as well as a composer has led them to mix for pop records as well as film scores such as Miramax’s Mother Android (2022), Amazon Prime miniseries Expats (2024), and Netflix’s Terminator: The Anime Series (2024).
