Lyle Kam Reflects On His New Album, ‘re:collections’

Lyle Kam will make you cry – or, at least, his music will.

The 26-year-old Chinese Canadian artist recently released his third indie-pop album, re:collections, which documents his feelings on love, loss, yearning, and figuring out who he is in the long run. The catchy, melodious songs are carefully curated to tug at heartstrings, with lyrics that reflect similar memories and moments in one’s life. It’s safe to say, Kam’s music will have you pause for a moment – if not for the emotional reflection, at least because it’s soothing to listen to.

“I always want my music to feel warm, comforting, and soft,” says Kam over Zoom from his Toronto home. “I don’t like when sounds are very harsh or berating in my ear. When something’s too ballady, I get a little snooze. So, I like having that balance of something nice to listen to, but still has a rhythm that keeps tickling the right spots in your head.”

His new album does just that, each song telling a story, as if it would perfectly fit one of those movie or K-pop edits on TikTok to further explain the plot or situation. Kam enjoys the reference, saying he’s had his music used that way before, and is honored that it resonated with people to use it.

“In my canon universe on how I draw everything, re:collections is as close as I wanted the sound I like and want for ‘Lyle Kam’ to be in terms of the music, song writing, the production, and all of that stuff,” Right now, I feel like I’m in a good place where I can translate what’s in my brain into the songs I want to make.”

Kam would agree that when you meet him, he’s very calm and collected, but, in actuality, he’s a really sensitive and soft dude who puts all his feelings into his music. He laughs when asked, “Who hurt you?” He says he’s never been asked that so bluntly, and explains that he just feels emotions deeply and lets that dramatic version of himself write the lyrics.

“There’s one happy song,” says Kam. “When I write songs, it lets me express myself in a way that I don’t normally do when I’m just hanging out with people or conversing. I like making stuff that people resonate with. I’m able to do that when I’m the most vulnerable version of myself.”

The album is called re:collections because it’s a collection of all of Kam’s experiences throughout creating the music —young love, heartbreak, self-doubt, and dealing with impostor syndrome. He wrote and produced the entire album, spending over a year and a half working on it. He knows that’s not a very long time for many, but it was for him as he did it all—writing, recording, sound mixing, sound editing, creating the instrumentals and beats, and everything in between to complete it.

“There’s been a lot of things that I’ve lived through, which is funny to say because I’m so young, but that was a long time for me,” he explains. “I’d have this set list of songs on the project, but then I would change my mind. I’d think, ‘I’d like this song more. Let me put this on here. Let me take this one out.’ I had so many songs that were big contenders for what would make it on the project. The whole project is just a culmination of these experiences I’ve had for the past two years, even before I started properly on the project.”

This isn’t new for Kam, who released two albums and two EPs within the past six years. He loves making music and wants to put himself out there, so he just does it.

Back in the day, he would take his old Rock Band video game microphone, record covers off Audacity, and upload them onto SoundCloud. It’s why he considers his first album, dogfight (2019), an experiment that isn’t tied to the type of music he makes now.

“At that time, I had no idea what I was doing,” he says. “I was just doing music and recording it. I didn’t even mix it. It was such a duct tape project.”

Though Kam has been writing and creating music on and off throughout the past 10 years, he began taking it seriously during the pandemic. He didn’t want “just to make music” but to really be taken seriously as a recording artist. He recalls all of the artists he followed who shaped who he wanted to emulate, but realized it would mean sacrificing his identity.

“I wanted to embrace my actual personality and put that into the world, because so much of it before was about creating this hype,” says Kam. “Instead of trying to be super cool and mysterious, let me be who I am and make friends with the people along the way. There’s a huge aspect of community that has been missing that I want to implement now. With everything moving forward, I feel like I’m taking little steps towards getting to where I want to be.”

His 2021 EP, Folly, kickstarted more fans to notice the singer when his 2020 single, “Unlove,” gained traction for its melancholy lyrics over soft electronic beats from media outlets and on social media. His 2022 single, “isn’t it funny,” gained popularity for its use on K-pop video edits, since the song was about being in love with someone in another country, who doesn’t know you exist.

He considers his EPs and second album, blurry eyed, his first proper projects, where he finally figured out how to produce the sound he wanted.

“The biggest thing I’ve learned from this process is that you have to work hard, but also smart, and be open to opportunities [where] you’re not afraid to leave your comfort zone,” Kam shares. “When I first started, I thought I would do acoustic songs because I didn’t know how to do anything else. When things weren’t working out, I could have just kept doing the same thing. So, I took a step back and thought, ‘How can I improve upon what I’m doing?’ The big thing is that whatever I do, I always want to improve upon what I’m doing, because, at the end of the day, it should be fulfilling for me to do my art. I always try to improve, learn, and apply new things.”

Lauv and Ed Sheeran have always inspired Kam’s sound and songwriting. But, for re:collections, he found inspiration from Sabrina Carpenter’s 2022 album, Emails I Can’t Send, and several underground artists, like David Alexander.

“I’ve been listening to a lot of Sabrina Carpenter’s old album, Kam explains. “I think is one of my favorite albums of 2023, which, was when I was getting into making [my] album. [David Alexander] has been a big influence because I love what he’s doing with pop music and driving what I think is the next sound. I love taking influence from that.”

With the album now out, Kam will perform in a few venues around Canada, particularly the major cities like Toronto and Vancouver, which have a large Asian population and make up most of Kam’s fan base. He appreciates the reception he receives from the Asian diaspora community, who have always shown an interest and support in his work. Social media has also allowed him to grow his fan base and spark some interest from other artists to collaborate with him. He recently sang a duet version of “all we do is talk” with singer Katherine Li.

“I’m glad people are starting to see my stuff now,” Kam says. “It means something is working. I’m glad to meet people who are interested in these things. Even though I’m in the field of the diaspora of Asians, I ultimately like to expand to everybody, which is a goal for a lot of Asian artists. It’s like, how can we step out of that bubble, even though it’s a very nice and comforting place to be, because every Asian person and artist has been so welcoming.”

Kam now has a manager and hopes to work with producers and labels to produce bigger and better things. He’s not looking to become the next Justin Bieber or Shawn Mendes; he wants to make music that people listen to and be able to perform for them.

“That’s the end goal for me,” Kam says. “At least to the point where I can comfortably do this for a living. I think I would be happy with that.”

re:collections by Lyle Kam is out and available on all listening platforms.