mui zyu returns with new single “everything to die for,” showcasing her most intimate writing to date in this sparsely lit anti-ballad. A low-strung acoustic guitar, nestled between clouds of tape-echoey synthesizers, backdrop mui zyu’s mellifluous vocal performance.
It follows the Hong-Kong British artist’s debut full-length, Rotten Bun for an Eggless Century, which came out on Father/Daughter Records in February 2023 to rave reviews everywhere from Mojo, DIY Mag, Clash, The Line of Best Fit, Crack to Pitchfork, Stereogum (Artist to Watch) and NPR in the US. It was also named as one of Rough Trade’s Most Anticipated Albums of 2023. Its success saw her perform at SXSW, a host of UK festivals including Tramlines, Visions, Left Of The Dial and tour with Julie Bryne.
“everything to die for,” her first track in nearly a year, observes the complexities of love, in its myriad forms, and how we often hurt those we love the most.
On the track, mui zyu shares: “This song arrived so fast, like a gift from somewhere else, the words and music poured out altogether and the final version is musically identical to the original sketch. I’d never written a love song and had been listening to lots of romantic music and this just teleported in. I love chromatic melodies as they are hopeful and naive but can feel unnerving, all of which embody ideas of love to me.”
The PRS Foundation awarded mui zyu with their Momentum Fund for this recording which allowed her to work at Middle Farm Studios in Devon with long-time collaborator, Luciano Rossi. They continuously re-recorded the vocal in search of the performance from the original demo - which Eva achieved by getting up to record at 5am without speaking or warming up before.