Born again
On her way to making a name for herself as an artist in her own right after more than a decade of writing chart-topping hits for some of Hong Kong’s biggest Cantopop stars, KIRI T talks to STEPHENIE GEE about feeling good, looking good and no longer takin
T LOOKS LIKE I’m filming a yoga tutorial,” says
Kiri T with a laugh, her back arched as she gets into a trikonasana-like pose. This is not the first instance during the 15 minutes since I’ve arrived on set that the artist has displayed the sort of self- deprecating humour that makes her ever more likeable. Stepping out in a fuzzy orange off-the-shoulder knit top, she exclaims, “I look like a mat!” Modelling a slinky, khaki-toned two-piece set, she cracks a joke about her resemblance to soil. It’s amusing and all in good jest, but it soon becomes apparent that this is more than merely an effort to lift the spirits of the crew who have been there for seven hours straight. This rare ability to laugh at herself contemplatively and comfortably is exemplified in the body of her work.
While most singer-songwriters head to the confessional, penning songs that chronicle their deepest lows and inner turmoil, T (short for Tse – “I used to study in the UK and they could never pronounce my last name right. I got so sick of it so I just changed it to T because I have no faith in people getting it right”) makes music that documents “just the smallest stuff”.
Her 2022 English hit single that marked her debut with Warner Music Hong Kong, “u owe me $$”, draws from an encounter with customer support when she was refused a refund for a piece of furniture she ordered but that never arrived. And “Twist Cone”, her latest single and first Cantonese track, which was rolled out as part of Warner Music Hong Kong’s Future Is Now campaign, touches on her indecisiveness and vulnerabilities through a lens of lighthearted whimsy.