Hailing from Singapore but based in Los Angeles, Halan is both an electronic music producer and a singer-songwriter. Having started performing in a variety of 80s rock cover bands and an original theatrical metal band, Halan launched her solo music career in 2019. Within her solo music, Halan has looked to blend alternative pop and electronic music together to give her lyrics, which tend to skew towards a little sad, an upbeat sound that enables her to dance away her tears.
Sometimes relationships, even friendships, can be complex — when you know someone well it is easy to forget about the wider context that exists in their life. Your best friend can be the person who best understands you, and yet there are still times when that individual may not be able to be there for you in the way you want.
This is the experience Halan’s single Can’t Rely On You depicts, as she describes:
“Can’t Rely On You is a song I wrote about my best friend. When I’m down I seek him out, but he struggles with his own mind and sometimes disappears when I most need him because he gets stuck in a mental ‘tunnel hole’, as he calls it.”
This is an experience I know, but I have also learned that it is important to try not to project in those instances. My experience tends to take a certain form, in that I have a hunger to be there for friends when they need. Yet, that doesn’t mean that someone who is unable to be present in a particular moment doesn’t care.
Regardless, Halan’s reading of the situation is easy for me to empathise with. There are times when anxiety can result in a loss of perspective, and in those moments I am almost unable to help myself. It is as though I need some form of external reassurance and validation to pull myself out of a particular mood. At the same time, every person has a different experience of mental health… It is no more reasonable to empathise with Halan than it is with her friend, who appears to have their own struggle in the moment and with the form Halan desires it. All we can do is try to be understanding and empathetic, and aware of the needs of those closest to us.
Check out Can’t Rely On You below: