For Regina Song, growing up has meant learning that love is rarely as simple as the stories we tell ourselves about it. On her sophomore album everland, the Singaporean singer-songwriter moves beyond the romantic fantasy that shaped her debut fangirl, documenting instead the complications that arrive when imagined relationships become real ones — intimacy, uncertainty, heartbreak, and the uncomfortable process of learning more about yourself along the way.
Inspired by Alice in Wonderland, everland turns those experiences into its own dreamlike universe. Across 11 tracks, Song preserves pivotal memories from her late teens and early adulthood, pairing her diaristic songwriting with a world of romance, surrealism, and self-discovery. The record follows a period of rapid growth for the artist, whose breakout track 'the cutest pair' topped Spotify's Viral 50 Global playlist and helped take her music to audiences around the world.
Ahead of her highly anticipated headlining set at HOMEGROWN Festival 2026 next weekend, Bandwagon spoke with Song about how her understanding of love has evolved, turning memories into music, living with the pressure of a global breakthrough, and the version of herself she is finally ready to leave behind.
Your debut album fangirl explored the fantasy of loving someone from afar, while everland enters the less predictable reality of being in a relationship. What changed in your understanding of love between the two records?
As someone who is committed and always feels deeply, my understanding of love has changed significantly. I guess it’s much easier to be altruistic about love when you’re young because there are just some things you don’t understand until you’ve gone through them. Looking back, it surprises me how I went from the “simplicity” of figuring out how to express my feelings to the intensity of dealing with the loss of someone close.
I also thought relationships were all about getting to know someone else and learning to accept them. But I have come to realise that it is also about learning about myself and learning how to accept me.
You have described everland as “a wonderland of core memories that seem to live on forever”. How did you decide which memories belonged in this world, and were there any that felt too personal to turn into songs?
These songs were written during pivotal moments of my journey as a late teen and young adult. And when it happens, I don’t really think I get to decide what inspires me. I just write whenever I feel very strongly about something, or when I feel like I need to process something and get it out of my system.
I guess I like to draw a line where I don’t make anything hateful or distasteful, which might get hard to listen to after a while.
The album draws inspiration from Alice in Wonderland, with romance presented as something magical, confusing, and occasionally absurd. How did you balance that world-building with the need to keep the emotions grounded and honest?
I like to write my music with the emotions and concepts in mind. The world-building comes in between or after that process has been done. For example, I like to write the first verse and the chorus and leave space to build the world in the verse and the bridge.
The concept feels like something that needs weaving, which includes changing some words as well after writing it.
Across the record, you write about beginnings, endings, and the uncertainty in between. Which song was the most difficult to finish because you were still processing the experience behind it?
The song that was most difficult to finish was 'The Sweetest Chapter'. I wrote the verse and the chorus a while ago. But I just couldn’t figure out how or what I wanted to write on the other verse and the bridge.
And it just happened that, as I was trying to finish working on the song in time for the album release, I was going through a really tough time personally. Only then did the idea for the bridge flow like water. It took me two years to start and finish this song.
Songs such as 'Kisses by the Shore', 'Mourning Rain', and 'Mars' use vivid images to preserve particular feelings and moments. When you write, do those images usually arrive before the melody, or does the music help you discover them?
It happens both ways all the time. With 'Kisses by the Shore', it was after a first date by the beach, so the image definitely came first. 'Mourning Rain' came to me really fast because I woke up and it was raining, so I played my piano and sang, “On the very last day, there was morning rain.”
But with 'Mars', it was more like I wrote something really cool, and I thought I wanted to name the song 'Mars'. It’s always fun figuring out a cool concept for a song, no matter which order it comes in.
'But What Do You Think?' brings humour and dramatic flair into the album’s Wonderland-inspired universe. How important is wit to your songwriting, especially when you are dealing with heavier emotions?
I think wit is one of the most powerful things to employ while writing emotional music. I think I’ve used humour or sarcasm to cope with many things in my life, and it’s one of my favourite literary devices. And I think a lot of people are the same.
Sometimes things just feel so heavy that I have no choice but to think it’s a joke from the universe or want to trivialise it in a little bit of a twisted way. When I wrote, “I know that it’s such a small thing, but what do you think?”, there was this sense of satisfaction within me, like I had accomplished something.
'But What Do You Think?' is one of my personal favourite songs from the album.
You co-wrote 'Dreamer’s Song' alongside Alicia DC. Could you tell us a bit about that collaborative process?
I saw that Alicia had posted a reel of the chorus of this song on her Instagram and immediately fell in love with it. It happened that she was trying to find another artist to take on her song, and I was very pleasantly surprised to know that.
It was initially named 'In Love Again', but I felt that this was the kind of song where the title isn’t found in the lyrics. As I was rewriting some parts of the lyrics, I kept playing it over and over again, and I thought that the song felt so dreamy — hence the name of the song came to my mind.
I wrote the verse and the pre, and the rest is history. It was such a fun experience, honestly.
everland is built around memories that seem to last forever. As you enter this new chapter, is there a version of yourself — or an idea about love — that you are ready to leave behind?
I think I’ve met a version of myself who chose to be oblivious to my state of self because I was in love. But in recent events, I have been made to face difficult truths, and I think it forced me to re-evaluate what I want for myself first.
So yes, some memories may last forever, but I’ve been stepping into a reality that I’m more content with. So yes, I think I’m ready to leave a version of me from the past behind.
The success of 'the cutest pair' introduced your music to a global audience and brought more than 100 million plays across your catalogue. How did you stop that breakthrough from becoming a blueprint you felt pressured to repeat?
Pressure is something I’m familiar with. I have to live with it every day. But I think I like to see the breakthrough as a motivation to keep going.
As an artist, I will keep evolving, and I will choose to focus on making art that is true to me instead of chasing a moment or feeling. A friend once told me that good art is good art, and it shouldn’t be only defined by numbers. That gave me comfort to just do what feels right to me.
You’ve shared that you are excited to perform publicly following the release of everland. What does it mean to bring this new chapter to a Singapore stage at HOMEGROWN Festival 2026, alongside artists from the community that helped shape your beginnings?
It’s really cool that I get to actually be an artist every day, as a truly homegrown artist. I’m so fortunate to be surrounded by so many talented and hardworking artists that inspire me every day, and of course, to be able to perform with some of them at HOMEGROWN feels so heartening.
Finally, what can fans expect from your HOMEGROWN set, and which part of everland are you most excited to bring to the stage at Paya Lebar Quarter Plaza?
I’m playing a few songs from every era of my journey — fangirl, the gates, and everland — and I’m looking forward to playing 'Dreamer’s Song'!
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