In those few gentle minutes on the edge of a walnutty dusk, when you’re holding hands with someone you love and you’re perched next to a body of relentlessly lapping water, you want to be listening to Taiwanese indie-pop band Sunset Rollercoaster. This is the mood the Taiwanese group achieves consistently throughout their discography, with a bevy of floaty, synthy singles that seamlessly meld English and Mandarin. This week, Sunset Rollercoaster has released two exclusive new Spotify singles–“Candlelight” and  “In My Head (腦海中).”  

Comprised of Tseng Kuo-Heng (vocals/guitar), Chen Hung-Li (bass), Lo Tsun-Lung (drums), Wang Shao-Hsuan (keyboard), and Huang Hao Ting (saxophone), the band has been constructing a mellow, catchy oeuvre since 2009, and has only grown since. 

The new iteration of “Candlelight,” which was previously released in 2020 in collaboration with South Korean indie musician, OHHYUK, provides a stripped-down, woody version of the sultrier electronic original, allowing for an emotionally vulnerable tenor. With a barebones emphasis on lyrics like: “All snuffed like candlelights/Left to broken memories/All snuffed like candlelights/Only a glimmer in me now,” a previously sexy electronic song becomes almost pleasantly melancholy. 

“In My Head (腦海中)” a cover of other Taiwanese indie band, The Loophole (露波合唱團), sung entirely in Mandarin, indicates the band’s receptiveness to and appreciation of the burgeoning trend of intercontinental pop collaborations. By releasing these Spotify singles, the band is grateful to be able to “put music into the world, and introduce Asian genres–from Mandopop to Indie–that cuts across diverse sounds and languages.” 

After making a debut at Coachella this year, the band continues to establish their presence across international stages. Having amassed over 1.2 million monthly listeners on Spotify across the United States, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Taiwan, Sunset Rollercoaster proves that love, no matter how melancholy or simple, transcends.