New release | Rainbow Chan
Today, multi-dimensional vocalist, songwriter, producer and mixed-medium artist, Rainbow Chan releases her highly awaited second album, Pillar. As a follow-up to her2016 debut Spacings, Rainbow continues on her path of evolving artistry as one of Australia’s most innovative and daring minds in experimental pop music.
Pillar’s 10-tracks culminate Rainbow’s years of expertise across composition,songwriting & production, finding the sweet spot where her many influences intersect, all while celebrating herheritage and culture as they intertwine. From the delicate brushworks of a faint beat to the pounding accents of a club-made kickdrum, Pillar is a work of balanced strengths, propelling listeners on a journey towards self-reckoning as Rainbow Chan’s striking vocal melodies glide, stop and stirabove on themes of life’s fragile temporality.
Opening the album, is the slow and tender melodies of “Oblivion”, before 2018’s clubsharp community-radio loved cut “CSR”. The album’s third single “Pillar” follows, utilising pitch shifted vocals as beats of their own, alongside brassy synths andangelic falsettos. The fast arpeggiated layers of “For A Long Time” soon appear, intersecting trademark Rainbow Chan melodies of never-ending interest. Previous single, “Love Isn’t Easy” ft. MOLDY blends Rainbow’s club and popinfluences into one, over a blanket of mesmerising synths and sprinkled beats.Rainbow’s vocal range shines, shifting between a hauntingly gentle falsetto andpowerful pop performance, before making way for the slow and softer leadingdirection of “Melt”. “A Horizon” is up next as a vocal-pitched chamber of warm reverberations and echoing space. The stop-and-start build of “Lull” ft. Chuiping & Choilin gathers momentum, before the darker glistening synths of “Gaosuwo” makeheadroom. “Roof” marks a magical and closing moment on the album, as Rainbow’s vocals echo towards completion.
“Pillar is a record about movement. With movement, comes change. With change,comes a multiplicity of truths. These ten songs were written amongst a constellationof languages, times, locations and lives, further exploring my East-Asian heritagewith songs flowing effortlessly between English, Mandarin, Cantonese and Weitou(Cantonese dialect), as a way to de-centre the Eurocentricity of language in popmusic”– Rainbow Chan
Always pushing the boundaries, Rainbow Chan has built a reputation as one ofAustralia’s most unique artists with a defined sonic identity, drawing on vibrantaesthetics, a deep understanding of pop conventions and continuous celebration ofher Chinese heritage. Recently performing live shows in Melbourne, and a sold-out Sydney,Rainbow Chan will tour Pillar this August with dates in Newcastle, Canberra, Melbourne, Sydney andWollongong
