Our editors' picks for the best Chinese albums of 2023!


Accusefive - We Will Be Fine
Fasten your seat belt, because Accusefive is taking us on a wondrous trip of magical sounds accompanied with their healing voices! In their third album, the trio wanders between indie rock and mainstream pop in ten pieces of diverse genres, ranging from synthpop, folk and Latin to Motown and adult contemporary music. The band ushers us to comfort zone with relaxing music, including "We Will Be Fine," the groovy disco-pop "How To Do," the upbeat "Your Guilt-trip" and "Aaaaah!," "Wish You Were Here" about long-distance relationship, and the loving serenades "In The Clouds" and "Can't Live Without You." Though they've gone mainstream thanks to multiple viral hits, Accusefive sticks to their signature soothing indie band sounds and musical creativity in the incredibly pleasing We Will Be Fine. Not to mention their harmonizing is such a blessing to the ear.






Bestards - Sunny-Side Up
Bestards record life’s chapter of gradually growing up in their third album Sunny-Side Up. Packed with 12 tracks, the record shares insights and observations of young adults in a half-mature state through pop rock ballads blending elements of folk, pop gospel, electric, strings and more. The Taiwan band copes with lovesickness from "Depart" and "Farewell" to "How Can I Move On" and "Addicted." Among a sea of bluesy music, "Would You Please," "Till We Meet Again," "We Are One" and Easy Peasy brighten up the mood with lighthearted notes. Sunny-Side Up is not as exciting or experimental as Bestards' previous releases, but that's totally fine. With their soothing voices and melodic ballads, the band presents classic love songs and relatable stories that bring out the beauty of "less is more."






Hua Chenyu - Hope
Though titled Hope in English, the Chinese title of Hua Chenyu's fifth album actually uses the word "Forget," inviting listeners to meditate on the way of life. Crafted by the singer-songwriter with producer Zheng Nan and lyricists Lu Yiqiu and Pei Yu, this evocative musical journey is nothing if not ambitious. An anthem for working people, the delightful "Flight Mode" uses traditional folk intonations to express urban stress in playful lyrics that flit between office grievances and metaphysical musings. "Flowers in the Town" is full-on philosophical as a Buddhist-inspired elegy infused with traditional Chinese music elements. From the moment Hua Chenyu lilts out "Mountain, please slow down and come towards me," this majestic piece epitomizes the bold, grandiose and romantic musicality that sets him apart. His "Healing Trilogy" forms the heartening mid-section of the album along with "Growing Towards the Sun," a tranquil choral song of life that celebrates warmth and light. "Light Up the Bonfire at the Galaxy's End" lifts spirits further with an exuberant, clap-along campfire song atmosphere. Hua Hua reserves his most theatrical sensibilities for the last two tracks: the piano-accompanied "When the World Forgets Me" which he performs with unbridled emotion, and "Illusion and Reality" which goes all out with musical theater and opera elements for an exclamation point ending.






No Party For Cao Dong - The Clod
Arriving seven years after the 2016 album The Servile that has attained legendary status, No Party for Cao Dong's second album again gives sound, shape and outlet to our darkest feelings of desolation with alternative post-rock and world-weary lyricism. While the songs may be less socially subversive this time, the personal reflections on pain and sorrow are understandably even more acute. Though no song has jumped out in the way "Simon Says" and "Wayfarer" did, this album is full of rock outcries that hit the heart. "Pool" epitomizes the Taiwan band's style of crashing monotonic verses of vivid, earthly brooding against lively beats and bursts of defiant despair. "Space" grabs attention with its aggressively funky rhythm and pounding beats, but what pierces are the words: "Before becoming an adult, I want to become myself first / Before the world is destroyed, I want to destroy myself first." The roaring, Taiwanese-dialect "The Human, the Hole and the Mountain" and the forceful yet listless Chang call back thematically to "Wayfarer" with its mountain imagery, while the gentler, acoustic-leaning "Shoot" strums out life's emptiness and regrets. Gratifyingly, The Clod ends with "Damn" which lets loose with hard riffs and screaming melancholy.






On Chan – Life afteR Life
C AllStar's On Chan delves into the endless cycle of life in his first conceptual full-length solo album Life afteR Life. Almost three years after his second EP, On lends his dulcet voice to a 13-track record of inspiring and calming ballads created by the singer and songwriters including Oscar and Tse Chin Tung. Setting off with "The Day After" as a remedy for worn-out souls, On somberly recounts an unrequited love in "Your Catalogue Of My Disgrace," longs for a crush in "Miss You Properly," and heals with the ambient instrumental Mind Wandering. He picks himself up and spreads positivity in the uplifting and anthemic "On and On," and motivates us to stay young at heart in "Still You Still Me" and create our own life in "The Creator's Shower." The album also delicately touches on family love in the interlude Dedicated to LSK plus "A Practice of Love." It closes with a bright acoustic tune in a laid-back, carefree mood – after all, life goes on. On Chan's Life afteR Life is an album that gives strength to live for today and hope for tomorrow.






PINK FUN - Oh! My Oh! My
Emerging from the audition program DD52 in 2020, Taiwan girl group PINK FUN leaves a mark in the third year of their idol career with the surprisingly ear-pleasing EP Oh! My Oh! My. Fully pursuing their "first love" image, the girls make hearts flutter with songs of different genres that share the ups and downs of young love. Dance title track Oh! My Oh! My brings out their cutesy, bubbly sides through an upbeat melody paired with sincere love confessions. Synthpop number "LoveMoji" rides on the Y2K trend with a mash of 80s retro sounds and electro elements, while "Stay" expresses heart-wrenching feels in a melancholic ambience. Besides the refreshing "Afternoon Sea Breeze" and the retro dance plug "All About You," Oh! My Oh! My also compiles their digital singles including the retro disco EDM Kya (from the producer of title track Oh! My Oh! My). This EP will have you jamming along to PINK LOVE’s "first love" power and music.






Shi Shi - BOOMERANG
Shi Shi's ever-evolving style adopts an electronic tinge in her sixth album Boomerang, which signifies turning back to reflect on her life. The self-reflection begins with revealing her MBTI and her fragile, needy side in INFP. This moody and personal opening song sets the vibe for an on-the-pulse record of mid-tempo and fast-tempo R&B/alt-pop numbers subtly washed in synth. Electronic sounds add atmosphere and texture to pop compositions like Judge Me and her collaborations with KIRE, including the light, groovy house-pop Bounce and the dreamy reggaeton-style Jagi, both earworms seamlessly blending Chinese, English and Korean lyrics. Unwind, written almost entirely in English, is a sweet and immersive synthpop rush that nails the exhilarating feeling of falling in love. Shi Shi tries to fix a broken love in the album's other English track Try, a collab with Alex Colours and Niclas Lundin. Born from an online creative camp connecting international musicians, the song combines Europop and Chinese pop sensibilities, with a catchy hook repeating "Let's try try try." Adddicted, her duet with Karencici, serves an even catchier hook amid retro dance beats and honest girls' talk.






WayV - On My Youth
WayV belts out an ode to youth and love in their second full-length album On My Youth. The same-titled lead single vents about a regretful past love in musically and lyrically expressive verses that resemble classic Mandopop love ballads. On My Youth stuns with its fusion of classic chord progressions, string sounds and hip-hop beats, as well as its unexpected turn of tone in the chorus that takes the song back to K-pop territory. Fan-favorite dance pop anthem Poppin' Love has a bouncy melody that echoes with the feeling of a fluttering heart. On My Youth also displays the duality of WayV in the side tracks. They portray romantic characters in soft, romantic ballads like the mid-tempo No One But You, Lighthouse written by Xiao Han, and the heartwarming pop R&B Be Alright, but also go hard and fiery in the dance-pop Ain't No Thang, hip-hop-style INVINCIBLE, trap dance plug RODEO and funky Moonlight to showcase their determination and ambition as artists.






Wu Bai & China Blue - Pure White Start
Wu Bai's Pure White Start pursues a pure rock sound for a studio album that feels like a live album. Idiosyncratic intro "Angel" opens with spoken lyrics over steady guitar chords and crashing keys, and fades out with mischievous distortion into "How To Sing," a ruminative folk rock number that curls over a stellar bassline and the roads of life. Modern rock title track "Pure White Start" maintains a restrained delivery in the verses, before lighting up in the refrain with the down-to-earth resolve to set out into a brighter world. Wu Bai's poetic rock pieces pondering life always resonate, whether it's the rugged "Strokes," the folksy "Face Fire," the storytelling Chang'e or the newly arranged version of "Reborn" that has acquired a stadium rock boost. There are also melancholic odes to imperfect love: a self-cover of "Sweet Rope" originally written for Nana Lee, and the push-and-pull duet "Sunny Day, Rainy Day" with Tanya Chua that stirs with raw vocals against the gentlest of melodies. Pure White Start ends on an inspirational note with the simple and soul-lifting "Don't Give Up," reminding all that "you are not walking alone" on this road. Three-plus decades into his career, Wu Bai continues to rock like no other with his determinedly old school yet refreshingly distinctive music.






Yang Naiwen - FLOW
"I want to do things others won't dabble… So what if we make a little bit of trouble?" croons Yang Naiwen in A Dream of Bonnie and Clyde, the first plug of her eighth studio album Flow. The anthemic song created with duo JADE opens her outstanding album of rock collaborations with ten acts, including many key newer names in Taiwan's band scene. The rock queen teams up with Fool and Idiot for the dark and dreamy "The End of Endless," Our Shame for the moody and ambient "I'd Like to Give Up," Crispy for the gentle and wispy Don't Mind Me, Sunset Rollercoaster for the pulsating, retro synth-laced Flow, I Mean Us for the spacy shoegazer We, Across, and Night Keepers for "The Remaining Half," which lilts then soars with a haunting melody and overwhelming feelings of loneliness and loss. Amid the mesmerizing alt-rock experiments, Yang Naiwen also sprinkles in more classic rock sounds through the powerful duet "Relieved" with Hong Kong legend Paul Wong, the straight-shooting "Sabotage" with Penny Tai-fronted band Buddha Jump, and the signature folk-style "Ineffable" by Wu Bai.





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Published December 23, 2023