Pong Nan’s first album in nearly a decade finds the outspoken singer-songwriter in a reflective yet optimistic mood. “I see a parallel between my own struggles during my years of hiatus and the struggles of people living in Hong Kong during the past few years,” he tells Apple Music. “I think I’ve become so much more empathetic and humbled by my own experience. Now I want to make songs that can give solace to people. I may not know what exactly you’re going through but I definitely know that it’s painful. I want people to feel heard and understood. And I want these songs to give them the hope that if I can get through it, so can you.” Working with veteran collaborators as well as a younger generation of Cantopop artists on 漂漂亮亮地死去活來 [Live to Tell], Nan spins candid tales of yearning, sorrow, friendship and healing that resonate through his earnest, vulnerable delivery. Below, Nan shares the stories behind some of the tracks on the album. “情定唐人街” [“Chinatown Love”] “I told [DJ and video producer] Shelf-Index that I thought SOPHY’s ‘自然變態’ [‘SLNBDY’] and ‘淹悶’ [‘Boring’] had the best arrangements in Cantopop in 2022. Shelf-Index then hooked me up with hirsk and Voel, who arranged both of SOPHY’s tracks. The reason why I chose them is because for this very ‘ancient’ melody to work today, it has to be arranged by youngsters who have no nostalgic memories of these kinds of melodies growing up. And I wanted the sound of this song’s arrangement to be as new as possible. hirsk and Voel were both baffled that I came to them with this melody, but after rounds and rounds of discussion and studying late ’80s/early ’90s Rock Records songs done by Lo Ta-You which were melodically similar, everyone got a clearer picture. “The lyrics are written by Albert Leung, who did a masterclass-level job of juggling Chinese literature and modern-day slang and humour. How to make something old sound hip without sacrificing the nostalgic vibe was a difficult task to accomplish—but I think we all did it well. “I wanted to write a song using ‘Chinatown’ as symbolism. Nowadays when lots of Hongkongers are immigrating, everyone living overseas is trying to build a ‘safe zone’ for themselves, where time can stand still and people can forget about the world and just eat, pray and love.” “圍牆倒下前” [“Before The Wall Comes Down”] “Sometimes, some things are so close to the heart you kinda don’t want to put it out there and have it tarnished by the world. I want people to have a song to express their sadness and to give hope at the same time. These days we all have that friend who is living somewhere else—and we miss these people so much. All we can do now is to live well and to wish them to stay well also.” “命” [“Inochi”] “I have to do something to pick myself up—otherwise I’m just going down this downward spiral. Let’s write the best song possible so that when I make my comeback, I will have a killer track ready. I got THAT song! Now I really have to make it a commitment to heal. For myself, for my fans and for people who love me. “It wasn’t until 2021 that I got back the lyrics from Albert Leung. I told him to hold it—and then in early 2021 I finally asked him to start working on it. I told him May 15 is my birthday. And he sent it to me past midnight on my birthday, for real! “We chose a more subdued, even repressed type of approach that was very much inspired by Deserts Chang’s ‘Rose-Colored’, with minimal instruments and drums by Steffunn only coming in towards the end. The outcome was surprisingly more sweeping and haunting—and a perfect complement to ‘生’ [‘To Live’].” “Believe Us” “This was originally written for Joyce Cheng’s ‘Believe Us’ concert as theme song. Joyce wanted me to write a song about ‘believing’. She said, ‘People think I’m so strong. But really I have no choice but to keep going and keep believing. If I don’t choose to believe, what meaning is left in life?’ Sadly, the song didn’t really get noticed during its release. Then quickly after, Joyce disappeared in public and couldn’t promote it. I wanted to give this song another chance. It’s such a good piece of songwriting. And I want to sing this back to Joyce.” “我點捨得走 (feat. Zeno Koo)” [“Not My Time to Go”] “The final song written for this project, as a roundup. I wanted to feature another surprise artist at first, but then I realised this last track needed sentimentality and a sense of bonding. I needed to find people close to me to work with. “Vicky Fung has been not just a contemporary but also a longtime collaborator and a close friend. But I have never sung a song she’s written. One night Vicky and Tang Siu Hau (with whom and Vicky and I worked closely on her first four EPs) were over at my house with takeout and wine. And I told Vicky I still needed an extra song to finish the album. Then she offered to write it immediately, saying I was on her ‘songwriter bucket list’. “After getting the demo and listening to the bridge of the song, I knew that part had to go to someone younger. Producer Ho Shan and Josh both said it had to be a very youthful male voice. Asking Zeno to do it was the perfect choice. His voice is definitely youthful and whimsical. This feels like not just passing the torch to Zeno but rekindling the fire in me at this stage in my life to keep walking.”