Music veteran revisits past for inspiration

BEFORE Anthony Chen's award-winning heartland tear-jerker Ilo Ilo, there was Eric Khoo's seminal HDB drama 12 Storeys.

Released 20 years ago, the film made headlines after being screened at the Un Certain Regard section of the 1997 Cannes Film Festival.

A restored version will be shown on July 29 at The Projector to mark its 20th anniversary, and to coincide with that, another seminal icon - homegrown singer-songwriter Kevin Mathews - is releasing an EP with music from the movie and more.

Reel2Real will feature three songs which the latter has re-recorded from instrumental pieces he had written for 12 Storeys, as well as Khoo's Mee Pok Man (1995) and Be With M…