This Singaporean singer composed a song on Twice's Misamo unit's new album: ‘It feels amazing’

On Nov 6, Misamo, the Japanese unit of popular K-pop girl group Twice, will release its second mini-album titled Haute Couture. Depending on the album variant purchased, Haute Couture will have up to 10 tracks – some of which are solo songs sung by Misamo members Mina, Sana and Momo.

Peep at the credits for Sana’s solo track Mirage, and you’ll notice that it was co-composed by a certain Dainasaurs – the stage name of Singaporean singer-songwriter Daina Ariffin.

So how did a K-pop fan from Singapore end up working with one of the biggest girl groups in recent history?

CNA Lifestyle spoke with the 24-year-old to find out how the opportunity came about and to see what’s next for her.

Daina's journey started during the COVID-19 pandemic. She shared that she had posted song covers – such as Heather by American singer Conan Grey – on her YouTube page all through 2020.

A quick dive through her YouTube and Instagram pages reveals her creativity and prowess. Beyond simply covering songs, Daina also reimagines K-pop hits – such as NewJeans' Super Shy and Le Sserafim's Easy – in other languages including English and Malay.

Eventually, her work garnered the attention of a few producers who then reached out to her to write together.

“I got invited to online songwriting camps where I got put into sessions with international producers and songwriters. These camps were targeted at making songs for the Asian market and a lot of the briefs were asking for K-pop-styled songs.”

Daina, who was already a K-pop fan, said that writing such songs “felt natural” to her. Through those songwriting camps, she met a few collaborators “who then introduced (her) to their collaborators”.

“From there, we just kept on writing. That’s how I got into the K-pop songwriting scene!”

Four years on, Daina has amassed an impressive number of credits under her name including Laffy Taffy by K-pop group Primrose and Second Sparkle by Japanese idol group Liella. Other regional acts she has worked with include Thai girl group Mxfruit and Indonesian soloist Gabriella Ekaputri.

Despite her growing success, Daina still works full-time in marketing – making time after work and on weekends to write songs.

And now, Daina has completed what is arguably her biggest project to date.

Haute Couture serves as the highly-anticipated follow-up album to Misamo’s 2023 release Masterpiece. According to Japan’s Oricon Music, Masterpiece had the highest first-week album sales for a female artiste in 2023. It was later certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of Japan.

As such, expectations for Haute Couture are high.

On Sep 26, Twice’s Japanese social media pages uploaded a preview of Mirage, highlighting its relaxed melody.

Composing Mirage alongside Daina is American singer-songwriter Sean Michael Alexander who also goes by Avenue 52. A legend in the K-pop and J-pop music scene, Alexander has composed multiple K-pop classics including Heart Shaker by Twice, Amigo by Shinee and Lion Heart by Girls’ Generation.

Mirage marks Daina’s first collaboration with Alexander, and she said that the pair "will definitely write more together".

She also gave an insight into the production process of Mirage.

“(Alexander) produced the track and I toplined over it – writing the melodies, English concept and lyrics (as well as) recording demo vocals. When the song got picked, Sana and (Japanese singer) Hiyori Nara wrote Japanese lyrics over it, and Sana recorded it!”

When asked about her feelings on getting to work on Haute Couture, Daina expressed her relief and excitement.

“It feels like all the late nights (of) writing, recording, balancing school and music – and then working and music – and all the slumps I’ve faced in the past four years have finally led up to this.

“Most of all, it feels amazing now that I can show my family that music isn’t just a hobby for me and I’m a part of something bigger. It also feels great to put Singapore and Southeast Asia on the map in the K-pop and J-pop scene. I hope to make my fellow K-pop fans and Singaporeans proud. Hopefully, this is a step towards making Singapore’s music scene more internationally recognised!"
 

So what’s next for Daina Ariffin? For now, she hopes to release her own music soon. However, she has also teased another big project.

“I have another release coming real soon with JYP Entertainment [the agency of Twice, Itzy and Stray Kids].”