We Speak Music
Allen Ling concludes heartbreak trilogy with “Remember”!
It’s never really too late to do what you love, even if the road to that discovery is reached through an uneasy path. American-Chinese artist Allen Ling is making his formal debut as a musician, decades after his first trysts with music, which is born out of a broken heart on the path to recovery. Ling teams up with Dave Lopez, the fellow San Francisco-based world-renowned Guitarist/Producer from the popular American Alternative Hip-Hop/Rock group – Flipsyde on his musical journey.
By the age of 20, Allen who was born in California, US to immigrant parents from China, had written over 200 songs and played the roles of the lead singer and rhythm guitarist in a 13 piece band. The arts, soon after took a backseat as Allen focussed on his professional pursuits as a healthcare professional (he runs a successful Physical Therapy Business which has worked with the staff of Pixar Animation Studios and Steve Jobs to name a few), only to be brought back and reunited with his creative passions after a sudden healthcare crisis a few years ago.
The multi-faceted artist, with a special love for comic books and music, has been working on his creative projects for over a decade. Now he feels he’s ready to share it with the world starting with a trilogy of video singles that chronicle heartbreak and healing.
This very personal and autobiographical set of tracks, both witnesses and chronicles various phases of the artist’s recovery. The music video is rife with landscape visualisation and entangled love stories.
The first track of the trilogy, Straight Into The Ocean was released in June 2023. The video single, like most of Allen’s earlier projects, was never released publicly or formally and yet managed to win big at several international film festivals such as the Paris Film Festival and the Cult Critic Movie Awards among others. The video also features popular Ms. Marvel star Aramis Knight, known for his much-loved portal of the Kareem- Red Dagger alongside Ms. Marvel – Kamala Khan (Iman Vellani).
Straight Into the Ocean, is succeeded by the video single titled A Name In Your Book The second single, (which released globally in July 28th, 2023) while following the same plot as ‘Ocean’ serves as a prequel to it. The video also features Allen’s collaborator and friend Dave Lopez in a guest appearance.
The trilogy meets a fitting conclusion with an earworm aptly called Remember which is out globally on November 2nd 2023. Allen describes it as “a song worth listening to for anyone who remembers a past love.”
On how “Remember” came about, Ling explains; “I was listening to instrumental tracks with Dave Lopez at the Soundwave rehearsal studio. The one produced by Ed Claire stood out for me. I immediately started singing a melody with lyrics at the same time with the instrumental track. It had been 3 plus years since ‘the break up’, but I still had to squeeze that last little bit of tragedy out of me.”
“I believe some of the best works of art and music are born from incredible suffering. I try not to seek out heartbreak, but if you truly live and take chances it will always find you,” he further reveals.
This October, Hip-hop inna yardie style (old school fusion between reggae and hip-hop) collective L’Entourloop are set to rock UK stages, with shows in Liverpool, London & Bristol. Their Bristol date at The Trinity Center and their first London date at Village Underground are already SOLD OUT, leading to a second London date being added to deal with the high demand that L’Entourloop’s unforgettable shows create.
The dates will see L’entourloop hitting higher than ever as they perform tracks from their huge back catalogue, as well as their latest 20 track album “La clarté dans la confusion” (“Clarity in Confusion”).
Produced in their now legendary Bandulu Studio, the new album is a result of a patient production process, carried out with care and passion. Throughout the album, L’Entourloop testifies in its own way via a puzzle of film samples, of this strange period that we have just gone through collectively, using all its savoir faire when it comes to make the people dance.
Since 1964, when the song “My Boy Lollipop” flooded the European radio airwaves, L’Entourloop’s love for reggae and its culture has never stopped growing. With this third album, they wanted to pay tribute to the legendary pioneers of this incredible movement – artists and producers such as Tom Wong, Count Machuki, Prince Buster and Lee “Scratch” Perry. An album which is a true declaration of love for soundsystem culture and its children – reggae, dancehall and hip-hop.
The success of their previous albums “Chickens in Your Town” (2015) and “Le Savoir Faire” (2017), with their famous “Banging Hip-Hop Inna Yardie Style” quickly brought L’Entourloop into the spotlight, along with their hundreds of shows performed all over Europe. The mysterious collective continues to bring together an ever-growing audience around the world, as proved by their hundreds of millions of plays on music platforms.
True lovers of vinyl and old cinema, in their perpetual quest for the ultimate sample, the insatiable diggers kept their fans waiting by first dropping the excellent DJ-Mix “Start From Scratch” in the summer of 2021, followed by a series of 3 official remixes, including the Reunion Island anthem “Li Sem”.
Another striking characteristic of L’Entourloop is the great ability of King James and Sir Johnny to gather incredible guests from around the world. Whether with Skarra Mucci and their now classic “Dreader Than Dread” or their excellent EP “Golden Nuggets” (2019), Capleton for the extravagant remix of “Burn Dem Down”, producer Panda Dub they collaborated with on “Le Bonheur” or French singer Biga Ranx for their hit “Push The Limits”, L’Entourloop has the gift of giving birth to collaborations that mark the spirits.
With no less than 32 guests from all over the world, MCs fling lyrics like guns like in a western movie and the new album is no exception!
On the reggae side, Jamaican legends such as Ken Boothe and Bounty Killer meet new generation stars such as Alborosie, Kabaka Pyramid, Queen Omega and Marcus Gad. On the hip-hop side Chali 2Na from legendary US group Jurassic 5, Swedish MC Promoe from Looptroop Rockers, US rapper Rêverie, the excellent JuJu Rogers, French beatmaker Degiheugi and the irresistible South African female rapper Dope St Jude all make appearances.
The UK vibe can also be felt with features from jungle and dancehall pioneers General Levy and Tippa Irie as well as heavyweights of the grime scene Flowdan, Lady Chann and Killa P. Fellow French artists are also in the spotlight with guests such as Big Red, O.B.F and Manudigital. To complete this amazing cast, L’Entourloop has once again called on the incomparable Troy Berkley from Bermuda and the talented trumpeter N’Zeng, formerly of Le Peuple de l’Herbe, to accompany the collective on the road alongwith a new addition – excellent Dutch rapper BlabberMouf, who has just joined the killer new live show.
L’Entourloop UK Tour 2024
05/10/2024- Liverpool (UK)- Hangar 34
06/10/2024- London (UK)- Village Underground – SOLD OUT
07/10/2024- London (UK)- Village Underground
08/10/2024- Bristol (UK)- Trinity Center- SOLD OUT
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