Chinese Football release final chapter of their ‘Game Trilogy’ with new album ‘Win&Lose’

Chinese emo band Chinese Football have released their third studio album ‘Win&Lose’, which also marks the final chapter in their ‘Game Trilogy’ series of albums.

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The album, which released on Chinese Football’s Bandcamp page on December 31, consists of 12 tracks and continues frontman Xu Bo’s meta-narrative about trying to become a rockstar. As the album’s description on Bandcamp reads: “Three years have passed, I still haven’t been able to become a powerful man. Chinese Football also failed to be famous.”

The description, written by Xu Bo, continues: “It’s just that I still have dreams sometimes, and in one of my dreams I have not yet reached the final outcome. In a certain ending, I ended up being a powerful man and Chinese Football became a Chinese rock legend.”

Win&Lose by Chinese Football

Chinese Football released the first part of their ‘Game Trilogy’ in their 2015 self-titled debut album, following up the series in 2017 with their sophomore LP ‘Here Comes A New Challenger’. Formed in 2011 by vocalist and guitarist Xu Bo, guitarist Wang Bo, singer and bassist Li Lixing, and drummer Xia Chao, Chinese Football’s name is an homage to the midwestern emo group American Football, a band Xu Bo grew up listening to alongside other influences such as Brand New, Saves The Day and Jimmy Eats World.

The group would go on to open for American Football’s shows in Beijing, Shanghai, and Hong Kong as part of their 2019 world tour. In an interview with Fecking Bahamas in 2017, Xu Bo would explain the band hadn’t counted on American Football reforming shortly after Chinese Football chose their name, though the members themselves were not all fans of American Football or even knew of the band.

“Our band name could be regarded as a tribute to American Football if they didn’t reform, but now, it is more like a joke,” he said, adding that due to the similarities in the band names, listeners from abroad often expect Chinese Football to be a midwestern emo band. “Chinese listeners would like to relate us to hot-blood and self-mockery because the only thing we can remind them of is the Chinese football team,” he explained.

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