Not only has he just released his debut album, “Oddity in Duality”, he has been recognised by the Malaysia Book of Records (MBR) for being the youngest Malaysian to compose and produce a solo album.
“I’m very happy. It’s definitely a great honour, and I feel very lucky to have achieved this,” the soft-spoken teen told FMT Lifestyle recently.
“Oddity in Duality” comprises 10 instrumental tracks in various genres including country blues, pop and rock. More impressively, he performed every instrument on the album, encompassing guitars, piano, bass, drums, and keyboards.
According to Jordan, he’d started working on some of these songs when he was nine.
“The first song I ever wrote, ‘Now I Know’, is the second song on the album. ‘Oddity in Duality’ marks my progression as a songwriter and producer over the course of almost seven years,” said Jordan, who names Pink Floyd, The Beatles and The Beach Boys as influences.
He has always been passionate about music: his father, also an avid music lover, had enrolled him in guitar and piano classes at an early age. The Selangor-born teen is also a member of a local band, Motion, where he plays lead guitar.
Jordan said the process of creating “Oddity in Duality”, which took place in his music room at home over three months, had been quite a learning experience.
Indeed, some of the tracks posed a challenge: “Celebration”, for instance, was envisioned with an orchestral feel, which required Jordan to infuse into it as many layers of sound as possible.
Another song, “Motion (Reprise)”, took a while to produce. “I wanted to get everything right. I always thought that was the most ‘quality’ track, the best on the album, so I took a lot of time on that,” said the Form 4 student at Sri KL International School.
“Oddity in Duality” was officially launched on July 25, during which he was presented with his MBR certificate. Present were youth and sports minister Hannah Yeoh, former Positive Tone Records CEO Ahmad Izham Omar, and Indonesian ambassador Indera Hermono.
The launch featured a “Star Wars” theme, with Jordan being presented with the first Millennium Falcon electric guitar in Malaysia.
Jordan hopes his album will serve as a springboard into a successful music career: he aims to attend Berklee College of Music in Boston for a degree in composition, production and sound engineering.
“It would be cool if I could become a big-name music producer in future. I’d love to produce great music for other artistes,” he concluded.
Listen to ‘Oddity in Duality’ on YouTube, Apple Music and Spotify.