Adia Tay

With a sense of grace and zen that extends across all her works, Adia Tay is a woman of many talents. Drawing a perfect balance between emotion and intelligence, the Singapore-bred singer-songwriter’s music wowed the local scene on the release of her 2019 debut EP Kintsugi. The record is a beautifully warm musical metaphor for all that she has overcome—Tay developed an interest in music during her school days, and it became a pillar of strength as she overcame depression, struggles with her faith, and a spiral of personal trauma. Kintsugi spins her troubles into achingly touching words of comfort against quietly uplifting folk-pop arrangements. A seasoned performer who has played every kind of venue, from bars and live houses to Singapore’s Esplanade, her graceful presence often breathes new life into her songs as her gift for articulating ideas takes shape on stage. And the multi-hyphenate crosses mediums in her vocation of artistic expression, publishing Close Enough—a book of poetry and prose—and dabbling in directing her cinematic music videos. Moving with grace through all versions and layers of herself, Tay is a refreshingly open book and an artist with wisdom beyond her years.