The multi-dimensional vocalist, songwriter, producer and mixed-medium artist, Rainbow Chan has released her highly awaited second album, Pillar. As a follow-up to her 2016 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 her heritage and culture as they intertwine. From the delicate brushworks of a faint beat to the pounding accents of a club-made kick drum, 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 stir above on themes of life’s fragile temporality.
Opening the album, is the slow and tender melodies of “Oblivion”, before 2018’s club sharp community-radio loved cut “CSR”. The album’s third single “Pillar” follows, utilising pitch shifted vocals as beats of their own, alongside brassy synths and angelic 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 pop influences into one, over a blanket of mesmerising synths and sprinkled beats. Rainbow’s vocal range shines, shifting between a hauntingly gentle falsetto and powerful pop performance, before making way for the slow and softer leading direction 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” make headroom. “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 constellation of languages, times, locations and lives, further exploring my East-Asian heritage with songs flowing effortlessly between English, Mandarin, Cantonese and Weitou (Cantonese dialect), as a way to de-centre the Eurocentricity of language in pop music” - Rainbow Chan
Rainbow successfully found her niche of idiosyncratic pop and electronica early on in her career with her debut album Spacings and follow up EP Fabrica. Both releases found critical acclaim within community radio spheres, having been chosen as feature album across FBi Radio, Radio Adelaide andRTRFM, making her FBi Radio’s Most Played Artist of 2016 and winner of the FBi SMAC Award for Best Song of the Year for “Let Me”, as well as nominations for Best Live Act, Record of The Year and AIR Best Dance/Electronic Album.
Always pushing the boundaries, Rainbow Chan has built a reputation as one of Australia’s most unique artists with a defined sonic identity, drawing on vibrant aesthetics, a deep understanding of pop conventions and continuous celebration of her Chinese heritage. Don’t miss enjoying the mysterious and many mastered dimensions of Pillar on its release today.
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