Danish pop artist, singer-songwriter Christopher was in Manila early December 2018 to push a newly released single entitled “Irony.”
The 26 year old singer, who first came into notice in the local pop sphere in a big way via “Twerk It Like Miley,” wherein his vocals figured prominently in the Brandon Beal track, went on a short promotional blitz with his local label Warner Music Philippines and did the rounds of radio and press.
On one activity in which the singer went face-to-face with local music scribes, wherein the singer was able to share how he began his career and what kind of songs he’s been writing about as of late.
Christopher Nissen won his first talent contest when he was 12 years old, and by the time he was 17, he was already signed with a music label. He released his first album when he was 18. Christopher shared that he is mainly influenced by the classic pop sound of Michael Jackson, and the more recent brand of pop by Justin Timberlake, Bruno Mars and John Mayer.
While acknowledging the excitement of having his own album at a young age, he did concede that it had its drawbacks. “When you’re that young, It can be difficult to know what you truly want. You have many people telling you to go (in different) directions. At some point, I felt like I wasn’t being true to myself.” He said the way to where he is rigth now wasn’t easy. He added “but you grow up and learn from your mistakes. Sometimes, you have to learn things the hard way.”
These days, Christopher is more at ease and confident as an artist and as a songwriter.
During his time with the music press, it was clear that he couldn’t get enough of writing songs, to which one writer asked him when was the last time he wrote one and he said: “I just finished a tune last night.” Which segued talks about his new song. While his intro to Pinoy listeners was via a fun, vacuous but nevertheless massive hit, his new single shows the singer’s depth as a writer.
“It’s the most honest song (I ever wrote).” “It’s about how social media has allowed people to publicly share their feelings and their lives, but not everything you see is true. We often portray our perfect lives out there, but it’s really hard to know whom, what or where to trust now.”
This tuneful, piano-driven ballads is like a laundry list of lies the singer tells and does which otherwise shows up as truth on his ‘feed.’ On one stanza he croons “I don’t care if it’s truth or not/All I care about is getting’ likes/Reading the comments like everybody’s honest/While they’re cheering for my fake life.” But rather than just pat himself on the back in putting up quite the ‘Instagram-able life’ (“put a filter on and make it look natural”) he’s in there to make his listeners realize and think: “can’t you see the irony?”
Sounds heavy, yes, but Christopher was able to wrap all of it in the catchiest of melodies. It’s pop delivered with a touch of soul. Christopher’s face-to-face with the music press was capped with a showcase wherein he sang a couple of songs live. A short set that included “Irony,” and a funky, dance song called “Monogamy.”
Despite the serious undercurrent of his song’s message, Christopher was a frank and gracious subject. While he would he would be frank enough that to say that “life would be easier without social media and phones,” he can deliver it in a positive way that suggests he only means well. To this end he said that on a perfect world he’d rather see everybody “connecting with each other, not online, but in a personal way.”
Christopher’s showcase also featured sets by local sensations and top rated pop alternative duo Leanne & Naara and a new comer acoustic artist Ethan Loukas.