Charlie Lim strips things back on reflective 3rd album 'DAYDREAM' — listen

For Charlie Lim, moving forward does not necessarily mean finding all the answers.

That idea sits at the centre of DAYDREAM, the Singaporean singer-songwriter's third studio album. Written across three years between Singapore and the United Kingdom, the eight-track record finds Charlie looking at regret, relationships, and change without forcing them towards neat conclusions.

Instead, DAYDREAM takes a more stripped-back route. Folk songwriting, ambient textures, chamber arrangements, indietronica, and UK garage surface across the album, but its most defining feature is arguably what Charlie chose to leave out.

“This album taught me that clarity often comes from taking things away and trusting silence, space, and vulnerability to do the heavy lifting,” he shared.

That process began with stream-of-consciousness writing, with Charlie later revisiting and reshaping those early ideas while trying to hold on to their initial instinctiveness. The result is a record built around restraint, with arrangements that give his songwriting and vocals room to sit in the foreground.

Charlie worked closely on the album with UK producer sugi.wa, also known as Will Goldsmith. A wider circle of collaborators helped flesh out its world: Scottish singer-songwriter Tamzene joins him on 'The Hardest Thing', while Singapore Symphony Orchestra Principal Cellist Ng Pei-Sian appears on the instrumental 'I Can Only Carry You This Far'. Chok Kerong features throughout the record, alongside contributions from Kin Leonn, Aneirin Wee, Andrei Eremin, and Ian Lee.

The songs themselves return to questions that rarely have simple answers. Opener 'One Day I'll Learn' considers regret through the possibility of change, while 'The Hardest Thing' looks at what it takes to keep loving someone when things become difficult. By closing track 'I Got A Reason', DAYDREAM still resists tying everything together, settling instead on the decision to keep going.

Following the album's release, Charlie is also set to head out on a regional tour with stops in Taiwan, the Philippines, and Malaysia. Further details and dates have yet to be announced.