Here are three new homegrown albums from musicians in South China on our radar this month.
1. Obliviate by Butterbeer
Whilst attending different universities in Zhongshan and Zhuhai, this duo would meet somewhere in the middle – Shunde, Foshan to be exact – to record songs for what would eventually become Obliviate. The album has been in the making for about three years, but Butterbeer have finally gotten around to adding the finishing touches to this, their debut release. Band members Jovi and Rye are possibly better known for other projects, like Atta Girl and Chestnut Bakery, as well as the Bandcamp label Boring Productions, but they create something thoroughly unique here on Obliviate. Their songs crackle with the sound of Sunday morning romance, shared and not shared alike. ‘Distance’ is a softly sung, glittering piece of indie pop, while ‘Listening to Another Sunny Day Makes Me Forget You’ sees Butterbeer pick up the pace and create a gorgeous lovelorn break-up track, before ending on ‘Retrospective,’ which buzzes with ambient, and very tangible, emotion.
2. Setbacks by Wellsaid
Hong Kong band Wellsaid’s new five-tracker is a sublime exercise in combining the precise chaos of math rock and post-hardcore. The album has been released in Taiwan and Hong Kong through Petit Alp Records and Sweaty and Cramped, respectively. In Guangdong, the band enlisted Guangzhou label Qiii Snacks Records to help distribute the cassette version of Setbacks through Bandcamp. Opening the EP on a high note, ‘Narrow Pass’ is a classic slow burner, as guitars seduce the listener into a relaxed state, until the chorus arrives and vocalist Sung signals a rhythm collapse with aggressive shouted vocals. Much of the album is like this, a back and forth between seemingly opposing styles, creating a perfectly pleasurable album of fun tracks.
3. Inspire by She’s Punk (Xuebeng)
She’s Punk are a group of four recent graduates of Guangzhou University of Foreign Studies currently carving out quite a successful run in the city’s underground scene. With three digital releases this year alone, the all-girl group hit the ground running in 2017. Their most recent release, Inspire, was cause for celebration this autumn, being their first available physical album.
She’s Punk show their musical versatility on Inspire as they regularly veer back and forth between genres and styles. They have designated themselves as a pop-punk outfit, but their growing tendency to experiment has led the all girl group to shift the balance in their music further towards pop, funk and hip hop, rewarding listeners with a great glut of variety. They hook up with another local act, rapper Felice, on electrofunk number ‘Yuzhou Manyou’ (which roughly translates as ‘cosmic ramble’). ‘21 o’clock’ connects like a powerful pop ballad, while ‘Phoenix’ is more traditionally crunchy pop-punk track.
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