PC Music have gone to Asia! The crew has collaborated with Chinese superstar Chris Lee (Li Yuchun), marking the first time the label will be releasing music outside of its relatively tight-knit circle. Lee is an enormous pop star in China (bigger even than Huge Danny!) who has released a bunch of #1 albums and singles. Even my mom knows her (for real).
According to a press release, Lee “is the androgynous underdog who rapidly rose to fame building a passionate female-dominated audience with a dedication bordering on worship that has seen students praying to her image before exams for good luck.”
Chris Lee will be releasing a double A-sided single with PC Music called “Real Love / Only You,” both of which were produced by A. G. Cook. It’s out December 14 to stream/buy. A double video by Kinga Burza (Katy Perry, Lana Del Rey) and PC Music creative director Finn Mactaggart (a.k.a Finn Diesel) will be out the same day, followed up next year with remixes by Clark and more TBA.
For now, check out “Only You” here:
And for more on this surprising partnership, read this message from Finn Mactaggart
We were introduced to Chris Lee via one of PC Music’s closest collaborators Kim Laughton, and were immediately excited about the prospect of working with her. Chris came through the reality television circuit in China, and EE Media, the producers of the show on which she was discovered, Super Girl, work in a similar vein to Simon Cowell’s Syco and X Factor in the UK. To be working with such a unique talent at this intersection of reality television, pop music, and nascent celebrity culture in China has been a dream come true.
“When A. G. Cook and I came up with the idea for the record we approached it with an awareness of Chris as a popstar who is already reflecting upon an impressive ten year career. Her previous campaign centred on the phrase “Why Me, Chris Lee?” and this was brimming with both optimistic and pessimistic possibilities, as well as introspective analysis of her self-image and the image that her fans conjure of her. We quickly figured that we wanted to play with the idea of duality on a double-sided single. When we visited Chris in Beijing to work on the songs, she fell in love with our ideas, and wrote incredibly powerful lyrics, particularly for Only You which translates roughly as “I Miss You, Bastard”. It was incredibly rewarding when Chris praised how much effort we had put into understanding her as an artist.