New York, NY (Top40 Charts) Ian Chang has shared a second track from his debut full-length record, '属 Belonging', which is set for digital release on April 24th with physical release to now follow on May 29th.
Ian Chang has built an impressive roster of progressive pop collaborators such as Moses Sumney, Kazu Makino, Joan As Policewoman, Body Language, Matthew Dear and Rubblebucket, among others, all while performing internationally and recording as a member of Son Lux and Landlady. On his solo work, however, his unique, expressive approach to percussion takes centre stage, leading a cyborg - part purring mechanism, part animate bio-mass rising from primordial ooze.
The first track "Audacious (feat. KAZU)" went online a few weeks ago, and now he shares a second glimpse with "舞狮 Lion Dance", a track that highlights his energetic blend of percussive prowess and hyper-sonic electronics.
"This was the last song I made for the album, so it still feels very fresh to me" he comments. "The initial inspiration came from the lilting rhythms of a drummer on a Chinese New Year Lion Dance video I found on youtube. His playing is so driving yet fluid and relaxed, so I based the rhythmic backbone of this song on that. The instrumentation was also inspired by Lion Dance music, which usually consists of a percussion ensemble called 锣鼓 playing drums and gongs. I started to feel a sonic kinship between this and Swarm (a track on the album consisting completely of drum samples melodically tuned), so I ended up sampling short drum bursts from Swarm to bring this one to life. The result sounds like a choir of drums cascading freely from every beat, blurring the line between rhythm and melody."
On '属 Belonging', in nine concise, largely instrumental pop songs, Chang conjures a personal cosmos. At every level, his music sings with earnest and deceptive simplicity. The album's melodies are intimate, its rhythms rewarding, and yet, just beneath the surface glimmers innovation, as if the neurons firing in each melodic idea have become audible. From the tradition of Bjork, Burial, and Flying Lotus, Chang breathes a new kind of human vulnerability into electronica.
When Chang describes his creative process, the phrase "third culture" keeps coming up. Born in the colony of Hong Kong in 1988, Chang has lived a nomadic life. Stationed out of New York for 10 years, he built an impressive roster of progressive pop collaborators. Now relocated to Dallas, Texas, Chang's discovered an inquisitive confidence that can only come from newfound isolation. Between tours, he dedicated himself to developing his international musical language, facilitated by a home studio and a burgeoning relationship.
For his first time in the aesthetic driver's seat, Chang hopes that '属 Belonging' may connect with those who have found a home in their not-at-homeness. On '属 Belonging,' the sense that nothing is planned yet all falls into place allows us to reconsider what we really need in order to belong. In his willingness to start over again and again, to let the music guide him (instead of the other way around), Chang reveals a home without boundary. '属 Belonging' introduces a musical contradiction: complete yet ever-evolving, neighbourly yet global, precise yet instinctive, familiar yet innovative. Ian Chang's debut both satisfies and challenges modern expectations of catchy electronica. May we find ourselves at home in the paradox.
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