Seattle-based mandopop duo Chinese American Bear share their new single, ‘No No Yeah Yeah (不不好啊好啊)’.
Married couple Anne Tong and Bryce Barsten craft bilingual English–Chinese bops in their home studio, celebrating culture and unfiltered fun through playful pop melodies and infectious hooks. Their latest track ’No No Yeah Yeah (不不好啊好啊)’ started as a simple joke before evolving into an undeniable earworm.
“This song came about one day because we were joking about wanting to write a song using only ‘No’ and ‘Yeah’. “Can we make a song with such simple lyrics, be engaging and fun still? It felt like the ultimate test. We obviously failed because we added some other lyrics. haha. But it was fun writing with those constraints because it forced us to get creative with different melodies. It’s easier thinking of melodies when you don’t have to think about the lyrics, so it lent itself to that well. We came up with too many melodies in the end, and had to whittle it down. There are so many melodies and rhythms flying around all the No’s and Yeah’s. It feels jam packed, but the arrangement is sparse to help combat the busyness. Just a thumping bass synth, heavily processed drums, and some glittery stuff here and there. Bryce’s favorite part of the song is the little reverb’ed out bridge into the last verse. The chord progression changes for the last verse, just that once, and it’s really pretty for a moment, then transitions out of it quickly. Our next challenge will be to write a song with only one word!”
Chinese American Bear
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