REVIEW: Sylo - “Bento Box” & “American Idea” Double Single

Innovative R&B artist, Sylo, recently released a double single of goosebump-inducing tracks after just wrapping up a tour supporting the band MICHELLE. These two singles, “Bento Box” & “American Idea” are not only both sonically dynamic, but they also act as a lens into Sylo’s experiences with love & the influence of American media having grown up in a perpetually-evolving relationship with his own Korean heritage.

“Bento Box” is an uplifting R&B tune laden with soft techno drums and a delicate keyboard, enhancing the cathartic listening experience. The track begins by complimenting the love interest by comparing them to a bento box, which is a single-portioned takeout box filled with various Japanese cuisine: “You’re a bento box of my favorite features.” Throughout the melody, Sylo reassures us that he’s “ok now” that he has his “anchor,” being this love.

The second single, “American Idea,” takes a different approach to the dreamscape Sylo so masterfully creates. While “American Idea” is more tranquil in its melodies, it also holds much more weight lyrically. Growing up as a Korean-Canadian man interpreting what love was supposed to be like from what’s misrepresented in Western media.

Photo by Patrick Ryder

Elaborating further into this, Sylo said, “I wrote ‘American Idea’ to reflect on my life, particularly in love and identity. First it started with my view and relationship with romance itself. I realized growing up, how love that was portrayed in media (mostly Western) really played a part in creating this unrealistic and unhealthy view of love. It also caused me to disconnect more with myself physically, as I found everyone I was looking up to and fantasizing to someday be, did not look like me. I then soon found myself digging deeper and finding even more nuanced characteristics and views I had that was so deeply ingrained with Western media in general.”

WHERE TO FIND SYLO
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