At Slow Boat, a vinyl listening cafe in Tanjong Pagar inspired by Japanese 'jazz kissa', enjoy music with drinks

These days, cafes are no longer just places you’d go to simply relax and have a nice cuppa, with some music wafting in the background. Whether it’s “aesthetic cafes” for the 'gram or cat cafes for the kitties, there’s usually something else that draws people in.

So what if the whole point of going to one is to listen to music?

That’s what you get at Slow Boat, which touts itself as “Singapore’s first vinyl listening cafe”. Nestled in a shophouse along Craig Road, customers can drop by, find a couch or stool or get a listening room, order a drink or two – and play some records.

The cafe is the brainchild of brother-and-sister team Kathy Chu, 30, and Kevin Chu, 24. “We called it Slow Boat because of the wooden decor and slow pace we are trying to create, a place where people could enjoy listening to music,” said Kathy.

Since it opened in December 2023, the place has been getting a lot of buzz on TikTok – and it’s no surprise given its unique theme.

For S$30, you get an hour of listening time and a drink to go along with the experience. The most popular drink is an iced white coffee, but a hot black coffee or whisky are the owners’ recommendations.

And even if you’ve got no experience with vinyl, the owners also provide customers with a tutorial on how to use a turntable.

They currently have nearly 600 vinyl records to choose from, with plans to continue growing the collection, which boasts a wide range of genres from pop and rock, to jazz and blues, and even hip-hop and rap.

“Sometimes customers would contact us and ask if there is a certain album we carry,” said Kathy.

The siblings were inspired to set up Slow Boat after visiting one of Japan’s “jazz kissa”, cafes that specialise in the playing and appreciation of recorded jazz music. They wanted to recreate that very same atmosphere in Singapore.

Walking into the cafe, you first see the counter where the drinks are made. To the right is a narrow hallway leading to the first of two vinyl listening rooms.

The mid-century interior is reminiscent of a vintage and relaxing study, furnished with dark-toned wood, brown leather couches, and dim overhead lighting. If a brighter interior is more your cup of tea, the second listening room features white walls and bright natural light from full-length glass windows.

The popularity of vinyl has seen a resurgence over the years. According to Luminate Data, a data provider for the music industry, vinyl record sales have been increasing year on year for more than 10 years in a row.

This rise rides the wave of all things vintage and retro, similar to the resurgence in film photography, buoyed mostly by young adults discovering these.

As someone who belonged to that demographic and has never listened to vinyl records on headphones, I gave it a go, choosing Twice’s Ready To Be and Coldplay’s Parachutes.

“The younger ones like Taylor Swift and 1975,” Kathy remarked, adding that older customers enjoy albums from the likes of The Beatles and Paul McCartney.

While I had no reference point regarding the “warm” and “refined” sound many seasoned audiophiles would often mention, I did notice how vocals were more present front and centre, with occasional crackling or popping sounds in the background that vinyl was known for.

And at the end of the day, it was all about the entire experience – the act of choosing an album, taking the record out of its sleeve, placing it on the turntable and playing it is very intentional and tactile, Kathy said.

“Once you (start to) listen, then maybe you would just finish the whole album, it forces you to focus on the experience,” she added.

If you are looking to get into the hobby, there is no better way to decide if this is for you than to experience it for yourself.

Slow Boat is located at 45A Craig Road Singapore 089683 and is open from 11am to 9pm daily.