Taiwanese singer 9m88 announces second album, ‘9m88 Radio’

Taiwanese jazz-pop singer-songwriter 9m88 has announced her second album, ‘9m88 Radio’.

• READ MORE: Sunset Rollercoaster: Taiwanese soft rock crusaders in evolving pursuit of “a deeper feeling”

‘9m88 Radio’ will be released on August 8. The album follows 2019’s ‘Beyond Mediocrity’, which was her debut full-length effort. Pre-sales for the album start July 6.

On Instagram, 9m88 – whose real name Joanne Tang, though she’s often also referred to as Baba – said the album, co-produced with Alen Yue, is a reflection of the singer’s “current stage” of life, which she has described as “self-affirmative and sentient”.

“Over three years, I loved how this record took its time to arrive at a comfortable place. After I wrote ‘Tell Me’ at the end of 2020, I decided to complete an album all of my own design, where I could collaborate with musicians from all around the world. It was how I found my way of reconnecting with the world during the pandemic,” 9m88 further explained in Chinese.

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“The album is named ‘9m88 Radio’ because it’s just like the frequencies of a radio – as you hop between different channels, you can hear the unique stylistic diversity and backgrounds of the musicians on the record, all come together with my own voice and creations,” she explained.

“Finishing this album really wasn’t easy! Every single song was another race of communication that seemed to restart at every turn. But after completing it, everything felt like a refreshing rush from finally finding and reassembling the right puzzle pieces. Every musician I collaborated with was an irreplaceable piece of the puzzle. I love what it’s finally become – beautiful and cute, just like a confident yet tender woman (me?),” she concluded.

The album’s announcement follows two singles from 9m88 this year: her collaborative cover of Madonna’s ‘Material Girl’ with Joanna Wang, and ‘Dear Astrologist’, a collaboration with rapper Kumachan.

Those tracks followed two singles she dropped in 2021: ‘A Merry Feeling’ with Layton Wu, and the aforementioned ‘Tell Me’, which featured production from Sendai producer DJ Mitsu The Beats.

9m88 will also be the opening act for Taiwanese soft rockers Sunset Rollercoaster’s upcoming European tour, which is slated to take place in September. The tour will include stops in cities such as Lisbon, Bristol, Barcelona and Paris.

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In 2021, 9m88 put out the EP ‘This Temporary Ensemble’. That year, the singer also guested on Bohan Phoenix’s track, ‘GLORY’.

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