By Jocelle Koh & Sinead

“Describe the vibe” prompts Youtube as I listen to the latest album by alternative Taiwanese band Lilium百合花. Little does it know, that the ‘vibe’ rotates through a kaleidoscope of instruments, textures and genres; from traditional Taiwanese beiguan music to bossa nova to metal and more.  Full of surprises, the only thing that is certain with Lilium is that “the vibe” can never be summarised in a singular word or sentence.

The Taipei based three-piece, made up of guitarist and lead singer I-Shuo, bassist and vocalist Wei Zuo and I-Hsin on drums, burst on to the scene with their mix of Hokkein lyrics and an impossible-to-define sound in their impeccably named first album, “Burnana (燒金蕉)” which challenges the boundaries of tradition by combining local music elements with alternative genres to create never before heard fusions.

After attaining critical success with their second album “Road to… (不是路)”, which won them Best Taiwanese Album at the 33rd Golden Melody Awards, they are back again with album number three, “Everything will go wonderfully 万事美妙”, launched in late 2024.

As expected, the ‘vibe’ runs the gamut of emotions, from visceral anger on ‘Come Out (出來)’ (“You should feel sorry for yourself)”, to a first Lilium love song on ‘Longan (龍眼)’ and a thought experiment on “If I Was a Woman (假使我是一個女人)”. 

APW sat down with Lilium to learn more about the secret sauce that goes into their signature sound: 

1. Tell me about Lilium’s origin story! How did you guys come to be such a genre bending band that sings in Taiwanese dialect?

Besides from learning all the great arts around the world, culture from where you were born is also worth exploring. Language that we growing up listening to has certain connections to our soul, we hope that our music could get some DNA from our culture.

2. I remember when you guys released your first album Burnana it was truly such a moment. Your sound is deeply cultural and rooted in tradition, yet wildly progressive at the same time. What inspires you guys when you create?

(I-Shuo) Works from the album ‘Burnana‘ were created when I first started learning traditional music. Learning ancient arts from masters has always been exciting, especially when everything was super fresh and unknown for me in the beginning, so I just played around with all ideas that came through my mind.

3. You guys are known for your eclectic and boundless creativity, forever pushing the boundaries of Hokkien music and representations of what it means to be Taiwanese. Currently what does Lilium wish to achieve with your unique brand of music? 

(I-Shuo) Keep exploring possibilities of mixing cultures to create new sounds, new music genres.

4. You’ve cycled through so many genres across your three bodies of work, incorporating rock, Beiguan and Nanguan music, disco, funk, bossa nova, metal and now your latest album “Everything will go wonderfully” combines progressive rock, reggaeton and metal to create an eclectic yet vibrant collection. What sparked this new evolution of your sound?

(I-Shuo) I never have patience to do anything! I couldn’t wait to make more music and share with people or even inspire people. Always learning new and old things, trying out ideas, writing down some interesting phrases I heard on street. It’s quite random! We’ll see how it goes…

5. Theme wise your latest album also seems less “serious” than some of your previous works and more “free”. Could you share some interesting back stories from the composition and writing stage of this album?

(I-Shuo) Actually we’re trying to sound positive and bright but at the same time still talking about serious things. Lyricist Wu Hsiung 武雄 is a inspiration for me, his shared many thoughts of writing songs which i never thought of. One of the things he taught me was: using two negative words  won’t create positivity. Ex: don’t be sad, stop crying. It would give people negative vibes.

6. Do you have any other Taiwanese dialect artists or bands you really are influenced by or love?

Old generations: Kuo Chin-fa 郭金發, Huang Chun-hsiung 黃俊雄, Lu Chuang-shien 呂泉生, Wu Jin-Huai 吳晉淮, Yang San-lang 楊三郎⋯

Active bands: Wu Bai 伍佰 & China Blue, Chen Ming-Chang 陳明章, Amazing Show 美秀集團, No-nonsense Collective 無妄合作社, FunkyMo…

7. ⁠Finally, I’ve always wanted to ask this! What inspired you guys to call yourselves “Lilium”? Is there a specific meaning behind the name for you?

I was an artist student growing up drawing still life. My favorite thing to draw or paint was lily flower. I just think it look pretty nothing special about it. It’s nice that some people would think of the meaning of the flower to connect with our band! We love that!

Listen to Lilium’s new album on all streaming platforms, or check out their socials.