Quirky indie-popster from London. Likes singalongs and wordplay. AKA Hong Kong Cockney*

Garlen Lo is a born-and-bred Londoner of Hong Kong-Chinese origin. Aged 7 he was raised by a wine-guzzling auntie who played country music at max volume. One Christmas, he got a guitar and took naturally to writing drunken singalongs with twee wordplay.

He formed an unruly, skinny-jeaned indie band in the mid-2000s, but after that imploded, tried to become a respectable member of society. Not quite succeeding at that either, he resumed his love for songwriting during the pandemic. And he is chuffed that his first six singles have all been someone’s ‘track of the week’.

He is a one-man band: playing all the instruments, singing, producing, and making the music videos. Songs about lost love seems to be his thing. His Mastermind subject would be The Beatles.

*For a short time, he went by the artist name Hong Kong Cockney but lacked the confidence to see it through. He likes it as a nickname though, like Springsteen’s The Boss.

‘Pretty Baby’ is Garlen Lo’s eighth single. A love song he wrote when he was 17. After 20 years of playing it at family gatherings, it’s finally released to the world. It’s twee indie pop. A mix between Sam Cooke and The Moldy Peaches. 

Garlen says:

“‘Pretty Baby’ is a really simple song. It’s uses mainly 3 chords (C F G plus one extra sneaky Bb/D in the bridge). You can sing both Sam Cooke’s Wonderful World and Cupid over it; whilst it has that simple lo-fi aesthetic of The Moldy Peaches. It’s the most ‘pop’ sounding song of my eight singles released so far. 

Written when I was 17, I’ve played this song for 20+ years at family gatherings. It’s their favourite partly cause of its singalong-ness. But the bass and and guitar solo were written this year, specifically for the release.”

The song also comes with a cute music video that Garlen has drawn frame-by-frame. This lo-fi animation matches the DIY aesthetic of the song, giving off real indie vibes. Indeed, Garlen does everything himself: writes, plays, produces, and makes the music videos.

For more info on Garlen, check out www.garlenlo.com where he publishes the lyrics and chords to all his songs and where you can watch the rest of his clever music videos. 

Emily Marsden – Editor
#IndieRevolution
@Indierevuk
Indierevuk@gmail.com