14 February 2024 - 0 Comments

Tamaki Mākaurau-based Chinese-New Zealand musician and visual artist, Crystal Chen rings in the Lunar New Year with an alluring new single Love Letter, aptly released on Valentine’s Day. The modern soul-infused track is a different production sound for the songstress, who collaborated with Kenny Sterling (Mānuka Recordings) on the writing, recording and production for her first release of 2024.

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Even when they’re brief and fleeting, real love affairs often endure through rose-tinted memories and artefacts of fading ephemera: candid polaroid photos, elegantly penned handwritten letters, a scent lingering on an item of clothing.

On Love Letter, Crystal Chen passionately implores a lover to write to her. In the process, she evokes a silky smooth atmosphere as vivid and warmly coloured as her analog 35mm and medium format film photography.

The track is an intoxicating melange of jazz, post-disco, R&B, and modern soul that draws emotional and stylistic influences from 80s British sophisti-pop, New York’s late 90s/early 2000s Soulquarian movement and the romantic melodies and drifting dreamscapes of the eternal queen of Asian Pop, the late great Teresa Teng. Featuring the epic credits of Julien Dyne on Congas and Chris Manning on Trumpet.

Crystal’s inspiration stemmed from a real life love letter found in the depths of her desk, she says, “It was bittersweet to the extreme, yin and yang at its peak. I would have almost forgotten that a love like that existed if it wasn’t for that letter. We tend to do that when a memory is too painful to keep in the mind, it is special that we get to keep it in a physical form and revisit it if you dare, or even burn it – but in my case I wanted to treasure it.”

Love Letter is supported by an accompanying Shanghai-1940’s-inspired music video which is soon to be released. Co-directed by Crystal herself, alongside her production collaborator Matt Hunter (Kenny Sterling). The sultry visual fuses her passions for film and music, creating a cinematic and beautiful audiovisual treat.

Having both directed and starred in the accompanying music video release, Crystal speaks of her experience, “Usually directing and starring in music videos are super challenging having to wear multiple shoes on set, but Matt got the whole vision and it feels good to complete this project together. I wanted to embrace my culture by wearing a qipao and playing mahjong. I also wanted my Mum to be in it and my gorgeous girlfriends. From the set decoration to the incredible cast and crew, I can’t believe that a fantasy from my mind came true.”

She goes on to say, “It was magic. I felt like we were not in New Zealand and transported back in time, especially with my Chinese girls who all got those 40’s fingerwaves and wore traditional Chinese dresses that we sourced from all the aunties in Auckland.”

Alongside her music, Crystal is currently working on a photography book with her mother who has Alzheimer's disease. Having just come back from travelling to the motherland China, the pair captured their experience on 35mm and 120 film, across 18 different cities. This book will be displayed as a mixed-media memoir with storytelling images of their mother-daughter relationship and Alzheimer's, whilst marking a significant time in Crystal’s journey as she discovers her roots.

Love Letter kickstarts an exciting year for Crystal Chen, with forthcoming projects and releases forecasted for her 2024.

Love Letter was created with the support of NZ On Air’s New Music Pan-Asian fund.

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