Straight from the heart

She considers the song, Yi Tang, as the soul of the album. The song, with lyrics written by Lee and composed by producer Chen Weilun, borrows the famous line from Haizi, the pen name of the late Chinese poet Zha Haisheng (1964-89).

"You only live once. You should look at the sun and walk on the street with the one you love," wrote the poet.

"When I wrote the song, lots of young people I've seen appeared in my mind, from those drunk young men in London's subway station to the young people walking fast in Tokyo. This is not an ambitious song. I am not talking about dreams or very big issues. I just don't want to live my life in vain," says Lee.

According to songwriter and producer Chen, who worked with Lee on her last album, Growing Wild, the song, Yi Tang, was born after Lee sent him a piece of sound from a bell tone.

"The sound is deep and lasting, which later became the beginning of the song, Yi Tang.

The bell tone, mixed with contemporary sounds like electronic music and dance music, makes the song very unique," says Chen.

He also says that the process of producing the album was not smooth for Lee since she looked for a song, which represents her attitude to music.

"We did a dozen demos but she decided to cancel all of them. She knew what she wanted and she was persistent," says Chen.

Lee will launch a national tour in 2018 to promote the album.

chennan@chinadaily.com.cn