dān dān ANNOUNCES THIRD SINGLE ‘songs about u’
Tāmaki Makaurau-based soul-food singer-songwriter artist dān dān returns with a new single songs about u, a tender and deeply personal reflection on mental health, recovery, and learning how to love oneself.
Produced & mixed by Christian Tjandrawinata, and written as a love letter to their younger self, songs about u traces moments of private collapse and quiet resilience. The song moves between bathroom floors, late afternoon light, and the fragile hope of believing you might be getting better. Rather than presenting healing as linear or resolved, dān dān allows recovery to remain cyclical, ongoing, and deeply human.
As one half of wasian sibling duo Ersha Island 二沙岛, dān dān is known for bilingual storytelling and emotionally rich songwriting. In songs about u, English and Mandarin intertwine, with the phrase “当姐姐，大姐姐” (being the older sister) - it reflects the pressure to internalise pain, stay composed, and putting others before your own health.
Sonically intimate and emotionally unguarded, songs about u sits within a soft indie folk-pop soundscape, led by close, confessional vocals. Where previous releases explored cultural inheritance and family expectation, this single turns inward, offering a brave and compassionate reckoning with mental health and self-forgiveness.
songs about u is for anyone fighting their mental health battle alone, and for anyone who needs to love the version of themselves that needs it most.
An accompanying visualiser shot by Struan Caughey, edited & colour graded by dān dān, is to be released on the same day.
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Praise for pressure cooker (debut single)
dān dān’s debut single pressure cooker made waves across Aotearoa and beyond, with its delicate storytelling and bilingual lyricism drawing attention from fans and press alike.
Juice TV: #1 in Top 20 Most Streamed Videos
Rolling Stone AU/NZ: Cover artist of
Best New Zealand Music of the Week: June 23rd-29th
“dān dān’s smooth vocal textures carry the evocative lyrics flawlessly as percussive arrangements and flowing key patterns ensue, enriched only by the creamy string work courtesy of the violin.”
“pressure cooker is not merely a melody to be heard; it is to be experienced… Sincere, sentimental and filled with raw human emotion… If this is her debut single, I cannot wait for more from this talented musician.”
“A soaring ballad… ”
The track was named Song of the Day by The 13th Floor, featured in Kick Drum Magazine,
profiled by AsianTones, and spotlighted on TAHI FM, Radio One 91FM, 95bFM, and more.
Made with the support of NZ On Air, pressure cooker was accompanied by a surrealist music video (with over 46k views on YouTube) inspired by Everything Everywhere All At Once, praised for its tender portrayal of a mother-daughter relationship across cultural and emotional universes.