“CHIN UP! is like the journey of life in miniature,” Eason Chan tells Apple Music. “A person sets off with misgivings, but the more they experience, the more they realise the script is already written—and they learn to let go of attachments and move onward towards hope.” Coming an eventful five years after 2018’s L.O.V.E. and drawing its title from a simple message of encouragement the singer heard while at school in the UK—“Keep your chin up”—the album is tailored for an age of exhaustion and cynicism. He says: “When you listen to this album, I hope you can think positive and keep your chin up to look for more possibilities in life, rather than fixating on a single direction.” Like all of Chan’s albums, CHIN UP! features the work of heavy hitters from the Cantopop scene. Singer-songwriter Terence Lam composed and largely arranged all of the music in a partnership that Chan found particularly fruitful. “He’ll tell me point-blank where I can improve,” Chan says. “I really need that. I’ll sing, and then he’ll give me feedback from a perspective that’s never crossed my mind—and it gets me to perform better.” To capture the rich panorama of life, the eight songs were penned by different lyricists who explore themes of emotional baggage, loneliness, self-identity and affection in a range of styles. The resulting vision of life’s fears and dreams is a broad one that includes both the urgent dance-rock pulse of “焦焦焦” (“Hold On A Sec”) and the chilled equanimity of "塵大師" (“Lightly”). Chan singles out the latter track as a summation of the album: “Because urban life is so busy and nerve-racking, I hope you can relax by listening to ‘Lightly’ before you go out to face life’s tough problems.”