Includes high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more. Paying supporters also get unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app.
Purchasable with gift card
name your price
about
I first wrote the demo of this song and performed it live last year as a birthday gift for my wife and then-girlfriend. However, I did not record this into an actual single until a week ago when my wife requested that she would like to hear the recorded version for her birthday this year. As a result, I re-arranged the entire song, recorded extra parts, and made a music video for it as a dedication to my love for her (and hence the name "Urban Serenade.")
The song itself, as its name suggests, is a serenade, but it is also a love song that expresses our love for our cities, Taipei (me) and Shanghai (her). Rather than arranging the song myself based on my experience in Taipei, my wife and I collaborated on different aspects of the making of this song since the message of this song is about us. However, we faced many differences in how we want the song to be like - the delivery of vocals, lyrics, to the overall tone. Thankfully, we sorted it out and are extremely satisfied with the final product that we came up together.
I had to finish the recording, production, and mixing of the song by a deadline, while the final week of my Spring semester in graduate school coincided with the week of the deadline. The process of the making of this song has been stressful and intensive, but that does not take away the joy I had when making this and listening to the outcome.
Huge thanks to my friend David Lin for shooting footage of different corners in Taipei to make the Taipei part of the music video possible. For the Shanghai part, I had to scramble footages of the city from the Internet and movies and cut them together to edit them into a cohesive narrative that matches that of the Taipei part.
Finally, I dedicate this music and its music video to my wife, my one and only love, on this day, May 20. In Mandarin, "5-2-0" and "I love you" are homophonous, which is the reason I posted this video today. I hope this video resonates with whoever might share a similar experience to ours - a couple from two different cities and now together.
lyrics
淡水河的半夜 烙印著外灘的美
In the midnight by Tamsui river reflected the glamour of the Bund
月下的咖啡 卻讓我如泥爛醉
The coffee under the moonlight, however, left me drunken
從上海到台北
From Shanghai to Taipei
看盡了
See through it all
城市夜光的美
The nocturnal vibrance of the urban
清晨的瞬間 妳在我身邊
By dawn, it's you by my side
黃浦江的絢爛 映襯著東區的浪漫
By the dazzling Huangpu river reflected the enchanting East district
霓虹燈的光線 卻喚起了對於妳的思念
The neon-lit cityscape reminded me of my longing for you
從上海到台北
From Shanghai to Taipei
看盡了
See through it all
都市森林的明媚
The radiance of the urban jungle
旖旎的時光 是妳我的歲月
The romantic era of our time between you and me
Composed over the last three years, and honed live on stage, “Glacial Medicine” is bursting with wonderfully warped and dreamlike beats. Bandcamp New & Notable Jan 16, 2022
