Jamie Woon

Bio

Jamie Woon seems very easy going when you meet him, and in many ways he is – he’s as endlessly charming and engaging as his music – but it quickly becomes apparent that once he’s committed to something he’s an all-or-nothing kind of person. This helps explain both his critical acclaim and his tendency to disappear for years at a time.

After Mirrorwriting (2011) and Making Time (2015), Jamie stepped away from releasing his own music, though he kept working with other artists including Elmiene, Lil Silva and co-producing the solo debut Unsung by Holly Walker.

The songs that became 3, 10, Why, When started through working with producer Martin Terefe, someone Jamie had been introduced to outside of the music world. “He’s very humble despite working on huge smash hits with artists from all over the world,” Jamie says. “He saw what I was struggling with and hung in there with me. He sort of tricked me into making an album – we made one song, then another, then when we had ten we just said that’s the album.”
For years, Jamie had been writing music without words – just melodies and sounds, though the process was frustrating. When the lyrics fi nally came, they arrived all at once after he learned to stop fi ghting the more diffi cult feelings and just let them be there. This explains both the startling vulnerability of the record and why he can find it challenging to discuss.

The album moves between R&B, electronics, and pop forms with a unique impressionistic twist. It flows with disquieting ease from strange, spiky percussion to lush strings, spooking you out with repeated motifs of being alone with thoughts at 3am, even as it taps into deep senses of love and belonging. “I don’t really know how to explain this music,” Jamie admits. “It’s extraordinary to me that it exists at all.”

3, 10, Why, When comes out on Jamie’s own label, Also Can – named after a Malaysian English construction meaning “that works too.” “I’m curious to see if I can build something that doesn’t kill my creative fl ow,” he says, “and see if that can be something I can off er to others eventually.”

3, 10, Why, When is released 03.10.25 through Also Can. Support act tba. In association with Wasserman