“I wanted the album to be a mirror, a reflection of stories that happen to different people in the city,” Ann tells Apple Music about the ideas behind her fourth studio album, 沒有人寫歌給你過吧 (‘All About You’). Thematically, the record represents a shift from her personal perspectives to the kinds of stories that happen in everyday life. But that’s not the only change. Gone is the electronic folk sound that typified her previous work, in favour of more direct rock and pop ballad arrangements—with input from the likes of Xu Jun, Ashin, Tsung Kuo-Hung and David Ke. Produced with Spatial Audio in mind, its electrically charged soundscape also has a palpable sense of vastness. In this exclusive interview, Ann talks in detail about the ideas behind the album, her collaborations and designing for Spatial Audio. 沒有人寫歌給你過吧 feels different in terms of perspective and themes, leaning towards a romantic feel. What led to this transition? “I think 沒有人寫歌給你過吧 as an album touches more on real life than anything else I have ever written, and a part of this is that there are more themes related to adult life, such as facing problems in life, or love. To be honest, I don’t really feel like there was a defining turning point. I feel like my creative work has always followed me through different stages of my life and I think that as I grow, my songwriting is also maturing…maybe I just care about different things now. In the past I think my songs have always come from of a sense of self, or from the things I care about, but this album stems from slowly growing older and just caring more about the world, whether that means friends or just the people around you. “So when writing this album, I was really hoping to do something that felt true to real life, something that people could relate to. I wanted to write stories for people from all walks of city life. I didn’t want to write about things that were too difficult, but rather focus on everyday life and try to approach it with an interesting perspective so that it feels relevant to the listeners, a slice of familiarity that everybody has experienced in the process of growing up. On 沒有人寫歌給你過吧 there aren’t many songs about myself; I wanted the album to be more of a mirror, a reflection of stories that happen to different people in the city. To be honest, because of the pandemic, over the last two or three years I’ve spent more time in Taipei than ever before and it’s really given me time to slow down and feel more grounded in life, more at ease. I think this is reflected in what I wanted to do with the album.” This album has shifted away from the electronic folk of previous work to a more pop, rock feel. Can you tell us something about this transition? “I’ve never been an artist who likes to define my own style of music; like in interviews when I’m asked how I see myself or how I define myself, I can never really answer. I think the core of my writing is still the same as in the past…whether writing about myself or about the world, bravery or vulnerability, I always try my best to do it in the most honest way possible because I think this is the best way to write songs that resonate with people. This album actually has a few more pop lyrical [arrangements]. I think I wanted to give it a try as it was something new for me. Also, I did the production of [the title track] with Ashin so there was a bit of a fusion of styles, which also features Xu Jun’s rock elements and [a] sense of space and vastness. Actually, I think my music has always had an element of this in it; even on my first album there are songs where you can still hear hints of it such as ‘不聽’ (‘Don’t Listen’) or ‘麥田捕手’ (‘The Catcher in the Rye’), which both contain some elements of rock and space. So it doesn’t really feel like a sudden transition for me, this is just what I like. I think I could be kind of alternative, sometimes rock, sometimes crazy, sometimes gentle… The songs in 沒有人寫歌給你過吧 are just me; everything I’ve written is a part of me.” Xu Jun’s touch added a lot of rock to the album. What sparked the collaboration? “I’ve always been a fan of Xu Jun’s choice of tone in music and I think we have a kind of unspoken, mutual understanding in terms of aesthetics and flavour of the music, so I never really felt like there was much struggle or pulling back and forth in the process. I think the main thing is that Xu Jun is incredibly masculine and so is his music, so when I was working with him we needed to get that balance. Because my lyrics can be slightly more feminine, it meant we sometimes had to find some softness in his masculinity, for example to get the right rhythm and soften out some of the rougher areas. So when we encountered this we did sometimes have to spend some time communicating over it to get that balance between our styles, but there was nothing else really that needed balancing.” How do you think the sense of space is reflected in Spatial Audio? “I think my music has always suited having that sense of space because I particularly like songs that elicit that sense of freedom and spaciousness. So when I was working on the Spatial Audio version I think it really helped me realise those wishes in that regard. One example of this is how the flow of the timbres sounds much more pronounced, like in ‘你忙你的我忙我的’ (‘Separate Ways’) there are some finer tones in the song which can really flow between left and right, top and bottom—I think it’s awesome. And in ‘喜歡本來就是一個人的事情’ (‘Personal Issue’) the electric guitars sound a little more crazy, a little more dynamic. So I think when I do the mixing [for] Spatial Audio it feels more intuitive, because a lot of the time when writing songs I have an image in my head of what I’m writing [and] Spatial Audio really lets me bring that to life.” Over the years you have had encounters with multiple mainland artists. How have these influenced your own music? “I think I’ve always liked interacting with lots of different kinds of people. I find it stimulating and I feel like it gives me an opportunity to change, which I also like. I find the musicians in the mainland interesting because they have grown up in a different environment to me—it’s a bigger place, the competition feels slightly more intense and the background different to what I experienced growing up in Taipei. I also feel like their music is maybe slightly wilder in terms of composition and melody, which is something I really enjoy. So when I spend time with mainland musicians I really like listening to their experiences and stories of growing up. It almost feels like I’m travelling or reading a book, I’m learning about and understanding a little bit more of their source of nourishment, which is really fascinating for me. In a way, I think that understanding their perspectives on certain things sometimes gives me a different point of view when I’m writing my own songs; it’s great.” Two of the songs on the album weren’t written by you—how does it feel performing work composed by others? “I’m actually a singer-songwriter that finds new and exciting things especially stimulating. I can’t stand that feeling of stagnation where nothing changes, so when I was working on this album I wanted to try something different. ‘甜蜜點’ (‘Sweet Spot’), which was the track I did with Tsung Kuo-Hung [from Sunset Rollercoaster], was a really interesting project. I actually did it with him because when I was younger, he was the guitarist for Come On! Bay Bay! and I’m good friends with Bay Bay! We’ve done performances together in the past so we know each other. So with this album I wanted to see what kind of inspiration I might get from working with different musicians, which is how I ended up working on ‘甜蜜點’ with Tsung Kuo-Hung. I think it’s probably the sweetest song I’ve ever sung. He also has a kind of retro triple-time feel to the writing, which I’ve never tried before. I’ve also never really sung a duet with guys before in the past [on my previous albums]. I just kind of wanted to do something simply for the fun of it, something for the joy and for me ‘甜蜜點’ was a piece of that puzzle. It tells a story of heartbeats and happy moments in the city. “As for Xu Jun’s ‘暖光光’ (‘Warm Light’), it feels like a song written by a good friend to me. The lyrics are pretty reflective of some of the experiences I’ve been through, from making the first album until now, both beautiful and not-so-beautiful experiences. They’ve all stayed with me and carry on forward with me.” Which three songs would you recommend for their Spatial Audio versions? “I would particularly recommend ‘不夠特別的我不要’ (‘If It’s Not Special I Don’t Want It’), ‘喜歡本來就是一個人的事情’ and ‘安地斯山脈下的黃昏’ (‘Twilight in the Andes’) because the musical arrangement for these three really conveys a sense of space and vastness, which was very apparent when doing the Spatial Audio [mixes]. For example, the electric guitar in ‘喜歡本來就是一個人的事情’ has a very fluid feeling, which becomes more apparent in Spatial Audio. I think this is because the arrangement has a lot of reverb space, which includes the piano and vocals. “For ‘不夠特別的我不要’, the rhythm of the drums is very distinct and the electric guitar has an attitude of freedom. Some of the choices for the synths and positions of the harmonies were especially designed [for] Spatial Audio. So the whole thing sounds really cool, honestly it sounds awesome. The whole track just sounds bigger. “The third song, ‘安地斯山脈下的黃昏’, was originally a little bit more electronic in terms of arrangement, Scandinavian electronic, so of course when doing the Spatial Audio [mix] there was a lot more to play with, whether it was the flow between left and right, fiddling with the timbres or the varying space between top and bottom; I think it was all super interesting. “So these are the three songs I’d like to recommend, they’re three that I think really convey that sense of space when it comes to the Spatial Audio versions.”