PIAO has just written their anthem to the heavens. By the time she released her new single, "Pagingbubu," a few weeks ago, the defiantly bright artist had once again proven she makes art that hangs somewhere between playful whimsy and stark emotional depth, a run for a door that opens into an alt-pop song with three hidden doors of echo fading long after it's closed.
On the surface, "pagingbubu" may sound like a playful homage to a pet, but hiding amid its effervescent melodies is a gut-wrenching story of love, loss, and the unshakeable relationships we share. With every note, PIAO lets her signature imaginative flair coursing through, defying melodic conventions yet leaving "pagingbubu" multiplexing compelling.
Raised in a home that held up first-generational excellence at the highest of standards, PIAO spent her youth living by all of the late-night studying and hard work to be the child her immigrant parents could boast about, but with a musical gift she had felt at that time was only meant to be a strict routine as opposed to a career move. But a prestigious Berklee scholarship presented an escape hatch from finance, and she grabbed it with fierce, self-imposed resolve. Classical vocalists usually take a more conventional route, so she took a daring detour into the alt-pop world, pairing raw emotion with a quirky artistic vision.
"Pagingbubu" embodies everything that makes PIAO a rising force genre-defying, narrative-pushing, and not afraid to delve into the quirky recesses of her brain. This is a bridge between memory and melody, humor and heartache, between the past and the present.
One listens, and you, too, will understand how PIAO's sound seems to pluck you out of time and into an entirely different dimension where hamsters wear crowns, emotions go berserk, and music never stops.