M1LDL1FE Change Their Alias Again To Club Mild With A Dancey Funk-Pop Single In Tow

It’s a new era for the local favourites (Credit: Nik Voon, Patrick Chan)

Alias changes among bands aren’t uncommon. But to change its name twice? Now that’s more of a rarity. Yet despite solidifying themselves as one of Singapore’s top indie-rock outfits since their emergence in 2012, the band formerly known as M1LDL1FE formerly known as Take Two is now Club Mild.

The established band dropped the sudden announcement a couple of weeks ago, reassuring that its beloved repertoire – ranging classics such as “In Your Arms” and “Always Been Right Here” – will be subsumed under the new moniker. The Club Mild reveal also arrives about a month after it announced the departure of its drummer, Jeryl Yeo, who’d been with the band since the group started out in university as a quintet. It’s a new chapter for the band in several aspects, and they’re taking the change in their stride with a brand new single.

The remaining trio of Tan Peng Sing, David Siow and Paddy Ong are now Club Mild (Credit: Nik Voon, Patrick Chan)

“Sun Gazer” is the result of this transition, Club Mild’s first single in two years and a first glimpse of the band’s upcoming full-length album. It’s a spacey funk-pop ditty about rewriting past mistakes, layered with treacly lustrous harmonies, punchy chubby basslines and choppy guitar chordwork that Nile Rodgers would approve. But it’s in the song’s second half where it truly slips on its dancing shoes, morphing into a full-on house-inclined jam with 909 hats and claps, awash with buzzing synth riffs and more strummy outros. Running over seven minutes, the odyssey-leaning “Sun Gazer” sports a gleaming spotless patina that’s fit for the discotheque, tying in gracefully with the band’s new identity.