After sharing the loose single “No No Yeah Yeah” last month, Chinese American Bear are officially announcing their third album today: the punningly titled Dim Sum & Then Some will arrive on May 8, and serves as the duo’s second record for the Moshi Moshi label. The second single from the collection is also out today, and “All the People” exemplifies Anne Tong and Bryce Barsten’s familiar psychedelic take on indie-pop. The jaunty keys and sugary refrains create a sense of otherworldliness that Tong identified as fantasy. “[I]t immediately reminded me of a fantastical setting with castles and fairies, so I leaned in that direction with the lyrics,” she shares. “It was fun to write about a topic we hadn’t explored much before. I’ve written a lot on our favorite foods and Chinese culture, but hadn’t explored much fantasy.”
With Tong citing Lord of the Rings and romantasy novels as not-necessarily-conscious influences, Barsten adds that the video he created for the track shares some of this imagery—albeit the main takeaway may be its puppet leads. “I made it in my parents basement, actually, which feels hilarious to say,” he explains, noting that puppets gave him the tactile feel he was looking for. “I felt like a little 12-year-old gremlin, working every day in the depths of the basement. But it was super fun to create, and given I’ve never used puppets before, it felt experimental and new. That’s always the best feeling as an artist.
“The whole thing is real DIY, like most things we make, but I put a lot of love and time into giving it life,” he concludes. “I think with the coming of AI, it feels even better to make things like this—to be hunched over in my parents’ basement for hours, excited and inspired, using my hands and brain.”
Check out the video below, and revisit CAB’s tour diary they shared with us documenting a set of dates in China from around this time last year here.
