Offtrack Is the Only Listening Bar in Singapore Built by Its House Music Scene

Offtrack is the shophouse bar at 34 North Canal Road. The room runs on a pair of restored Klipsch La Scala speakers, the same horn boxes David Mancuso used at his Loft parties in 1970s New York. Two weeks later, its owners opened a second room down the same street. Offtrack was founded by Dean Chew of Darker Than Wax and Daniel O'Connor of Ice Cream Sundays, two of the names behind Singapore's house music scene. It is still the only one built by people from that scene.

It is also, by our count, one of roughly ten. Slow Boat, upstairs in Tanjong Pagar, opened billing itself as the city's first vinyl listening cafe. Almost none of it is about house or techno. Most of these rooms spin funk, soul, jazz and city pop. If you walked into one expecting a four-on-the-floor kick drum, you would mostly leave disappointed.

The One Built by the House Scene

Offtrack sits at 34 North Canal Road, opened in January 2022, and runs on a vintage Klipsch system built around the same La Scala horns David Mancuso used at his Loft parties in 1970s New York. The programming leans wide (jazz, soul, funk, Asian cuts) rather than strictly house, but the DJ booth is staffed by the same crate-diggers who run Darker Than Wax's label nights and Ice Cream Sundays' day parties, and it shows in the selection. The bar climbed from No. 23 on Asia's 50 Best Bars to No. 89 on the global list this September.

Its new sibling, Earworm, opened two doors down at 16 North Canal Road on October 9, launched with Maft Sai on the decks and a live set from The Paradise Bangkok Molam International Band. Where Offtrack stays low-key, Earworm is built to get loud on weekends and run later. For the full story on both rooms, including who else played opening night, see our earlier report on Earworm's launch.

The Rest of the Boom

Walk in any direction from Offtrack and you will find a different vinyl bar with a completely different brief. Slow Boat, upstairs at 45A Craig Road in Tanjong Pagar, was Singapore's first vinyl listening cafe: S$30 buys a drink and an hour with an individual turntable and headphones, picking from more than 500 records spanning genres and regions.

Appetite, tucked above the Michelin-starred restaurant Nouri at 72A Amoy Street, opens Tuesday to Saturday from 6pm, pours classic cocktails with clever twists, and moves from Afro-Cuban jazz and 1970s rock to 1990s R&B. A short walk away on Duxton Road, RPM by D.Bespoke packs a 30-seat room and a private listening corner with vintage JBL speakers, floor-to-ceiling record shelves and a drinks list built around Japanese shochu and whisky; the soundtrack runs funk, jazz and city pop.

Further out, the format gets looser. Little Island Brewing Co. at Gillman Barracks runs a serious sound setup, including a Technics MK5G turntable and vintage Altec Lansing A5-X speakers, and spins throwback tunes from the 1970s and 1980s on Wednesday evenings for Waxy Wednesday, alongside vinyl-inspired charcoal pizzas. It doubles as a microbrewery with a bouncy castle for the kids, which tells you how seriously to take the "listening bar" label there. Choice Cuts Pizza & Records on Joo Chiat Road runs regular parties and themed music nights, from Stevie Wonder sessions to classic jazz events. Rider's Lounge, inside the TRIFECTA complex, claims an archive of more than 9,000 records across funk, blues, R&B and alternative beats on a JBL rig. Over in Geylang, Analogue Anonymous is a compact daytime cafe (9am to 6pm, no evening hours at all) built around a modest Marshall Acton III setup, better for a quiet coffee than a night out. Simply Analog has a record collection covering all genres, with cocktails bearing quirky names like Rum In Ma Veins and Ju Hua Tai. And if you just want to sample without committing to a whole bar, Swee Lee's Clarke Quay store runs listening stations curated by NME, S$10 for non-members, free with a purchase if you carry a Rewards card.

One name worth flagging as a gap rather than a recommendation: Slowbytes on Haji Lane, a books-and-vinyl spot, is currently closed for renovation with no confirmed reopening date, so it is left off the addresses above.

What This Actually Means If You Want to Dance

Here is the honest verdict. Singapore's listening bar scene is real, it is growing fast, and almost none of it is built around the music this site covers. These are rooms for a seated night with good records on in the background, not a dancefloor, and the music runs through funk, soul, jazz and city pop before it gets anywhere near house or techno. If you want a seated, record-focused evening, you have ten real options and a reservation system worth using. If you specifically want house music on a proper sound system, Offtrack and Earworm are where the city's house scene actually hangs its coat, and everywhere else on this list is a different, equally good night out for a different mood. For an actual dancefloor, our guide to Singapore's house and techno clubs covers that ground.

FAQ

Is Offtrack a house music club?

No. It is a seated listening bar with a wide-ranging vinyl selection spanning jazz, soul, funk and Asian cuts, run by people from Singapore's house music scene (Darker Than Wax and Ice Cream Sundays). It is not a dancefloor.

How much does a Singapore listening bar cost?

It varies by format. Slow Boat charges S$30 for a one-hour private turntable session including a drink. Swee Lee's Clarke Quay listening stations cost S$10 for non-members, free with a Rewards card and purchase.

Do I need a reservation?

At Slow Boat, yes: reservations usually open two weeks in advance.

Where is Earworm, Offtrack's new second location?

16 North Canal Road, down the street from the original Offtrack at number 34. It opened October 9, 2026, with Maft Sai and The Paradise Bangkok Molam International Band, and is built to run later and louder than its older sibling.

What's the closest thing to a house music listening bar in Singapore?

Offtrack and its new sibling Earworm, both on North Canal Road. No other bar on this list has house or techno DJs in its regular lineup.

Cover photo: Mixmag Asia.