Iman Fandi has always been easy to talk to. The last time ELLE spoke to her was two years ago, for a cover shoot with her mum, former top model Wendy Jacobs. Back then, she was just starting out in music and still finding her footing as a singer. 

A lot has changed since. For one, she has marked a new chapter by leaving her label after five years. Earlier this year, she released her first independent single, “Tip Toes”, which has since gained traction online and on national radio stations. More recently, she performed the track at the AFC Asian Cup, a moment that felt personal too, with her brothers, Irfan, Ikhsan and Ilhan, on the pitch representing Singapore. And then there is the fact that she just got out of a four-year relationship. “When you have all these comforts of a relationship and career for such a long time, you think that’s all that there is. But there’s actually more out there than you think,” she says.

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She doesn’t make a big thing out of it, though. At one point, mid hair and makeup, she jokes, “Iman Fandi, single and ready to mingle”. The room laughs. She does too. It’s funny, but not entirely a joke. Being independent, she says, is “more stress, but good stress”. And she means it. She’s involved in everything about her branding and music now: Payments, percentage cuts, and booking studios. It’s the kind of backend work most people don’t really think about. “I like to know what’s happening,” she adds. “I like to oversee and make sure that things are panning out as they should.”

Even better is the fact that she gets to do things on her own time and schedule now. Waiting around for things to happen is definitely the one thing she does not miss from her previous life as a labelled artiste. “Through a label, a lot of things were delayed,” she explains. “Right now, I just feel like I say what I want to do, I do it, and then it’s there.”

Indeed, things move faster now. Or maybe she just does.

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She’s about to release her upcoming EP, The Afterglow, which, in her words, conveys the feeling she has always wanted. “I know what I can control, what I can have,” she says. That same mood runs through the next single, "Out of My Mind". It may sound like a breakup song, she knows that, but what mattered more to her was how it felt. “I wanted the song—and the visuals around it—to feel more ethereal, with a sense of freedom and lightness when you listen to it, but still with a bit of groove; something I always want in my music.” One thing is for sure: This doesn’t just stay in the music. It shows up in how she presents herself, too, especially on stage, where things feel less held back than before.

“My style has definitely evolved, and I’ve become a lot more sparkly on stage,” she says. “I’ve told my team, ‘Let’s just go all out.’ It’s like a new experiment for everyone every time.” For a recent shoot for "Out of My Mind", she pushed it further, asking her trusted make-up artist, Kat Zhang, to glitter up her ear and put “bedazzles inside”. “It’s really about experimenting, seeing what works, and accepting that there’s a lot of trial and error.”

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Despite her more daring approach to fashion, the one staple that has remained in her life is denim, which has always been part of the picture. “For me, Levi's goes all the way back to when I was a baby,” she tells us. “My mum used to dress my brothers and me in Levi’s. I remember having this little denim dress because they had really cute kids’ outfits as well.” Today, what keeps her coming back is how much the brand has expanded. “It’s more than just jeans. They have so many different pieces, and it’s exciting to see how much they’ve evolved.”

Outside of work, that same need to steady herself shows up in smaller ways. Always one to push herself and to pick up new skills on an annual basis, she turned her curiosity for horse riding into something more consistent with weekly lessons. Her eyes light up when she talks about it. “It’s not just learning a new skill, but learning something about myself. There’s a lot of discipline and control. You have to be patient, or the horse picks up on your energy.”

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Another current obsession of hers? “I am obsessed with getting my nails done at least once a month,” she says. “I have a really bad habit of picking my cuticles. I don’t know if it’s an anxiety thing—some people say it is. But getting my nails done is also a way of controlling it. And I travel a lot, so at least my nails are always nice.”

As Iman has lunch with the crew and she shares stories about her family and how her mum and dad met, it's obvious that there is a sense of newfound ease and confidence to the 25-year-old. She seems sure of who she is, what she wants, and the purpose of the space she takes up. She’s also self-deprecatingly funny—like when she admits it’s not all glitter and glamour, and having it all figured out. “I feel like I have a midlife crisis every three months,” she says with a laugh. “Like, what am I doing with my life?”Well, the one thing for sure she’s not doing is waiting for things to line up on their own. And the best part? “I’m not done yet,” she says.

Make-up Artist KAT ZHANG/Suburbs Studio using Prada Beauty
Hairstylist GREGO OH using Revlon Professional
Producer NAVIN PILLAY
Photographer’s Assistant EDDIE TEO
Stylist’s Assistant FAITH LIM