Q&A: A Sonic Voyage—LÜCY Transcends Boundaries in New Album 'Dance on the Shoreline'
I FIRST DISCOVERED LÜCY through her song “漂流木 (Drifted Wood).” I was drawn to her clear vocals and dreamy lyricism–she seamlessly stitches earnest English verses with a stirring Mandarin chorus. A deeper dive led me to discover LÜCY’s offbeat, charming online presence (her Spotify profile picture at the time was of a green paper sign that read, “LÜCY u suck”) and, just like that, I was firmly on the LÜCY bandwagon.
Born at the turn of the century, LÜCY is a fresh twenty-four, with a Vogue Taiwan feature and millions of streams already under her belt. Dance on the Shoreline is her second album after bursting onto the scene somewhat mysteriously in 2020.
When her hit single CACTUS went viral, LÜCY was taking a break from school, and still felt hesitant about pursuing music full-time. In 2021 she told the Taipei Times that she was also considering becoming a “yoga teacher, flight attendant, [or] piano teacher.”
Now, three years later, LÜCY is fully leaning into her musical calling.
“If the last album was me stepping out of my room, this one is me walking toward the ocean,” she says of Dance on the Shoreline.
The album is much like the waves of the sea: some songs are slow and tranquil, others are fast-paced and percussive.
The titular “Dance on the Shoreline” is a utopic anthem with a nostalgic melody and rousing lyrics. “Fresh” is mostly acoustic, and then explodes into layered vocals and lush production. One standout is her collaboration with Canadian artist Jaguar Sun, titled “Nothing ever stops me.” According to LÜCY, the intimate track reminds her of where she started.
LÜCY says that the album’s shoreline imagery represents the “crossing of boundaries in musical genres, collaborators, and languages.”
Singing in English, Mandarin, German, Japanese, and Saisiyat (an indigenous Taiwanese language), she is able to organically incorporate language into her work in a way that most artists would only dream of.
LÜCY writes with the eloquence of someone whose artistry transcends dialect–her use of languages is not wielded as a tool to achieve global success, but rather as a conduit for conveying a fuller range of emotions and musicality in a song.
Dance on the Shoreline is sprawling, yet harmonious–it’s an exploratory album that takes the leap and lands on both feet, standing.
Read below for more on LÜCY as she takes the next step in her musical journey.
LUNA: Congrats on the release of Dance on the Shoreline! How is this album different from your previous album?
LÜCY: Thank you! My first album narrated the journey from stepping out of my room to entering the music world, reflecting the scenery and state of my mind along the way. For this second album, Dance on the Shoreline, I describe my imagination for music as the deep and boundless ocean, with the shoreline symbolizing the breadth and depth of music. This album shows not only my exploration and experimentation in music but also focuses more on the emotional flow within the songs.
LUNA: What is your creative process when making music?
LÜCY: My process varies. When inspiration strikes and I have a melody in mind, I usually record it on my phone’s voice memos. Then I’ll pick out the chords on guitar or piano and add lyrics later. Sometimes I come up with a nice chord progression while playing an instrument, and then I will add melody and lyrics. Other times, the lyrics and melody come to me at the same time during improvisation. If I have something specific I want to express at the moment, I write the melody and lyrics together at the same time. But if I just have a beautiful melody and nothing to say yet, I’ll wait and add the lyrics later when inspiration comes. Some nights I also dream melodies, then I have to record them right after waking up otherwise they disappear, like many dreams.
LUNA: Each song seems to explore different sounds and genres. How do you decide on the musical direction for each track, while still maintaining a cohesive identity for the project?
LÜCY: Right? It’s fascinating how each song can sound so unique, yet together, they feel like one album. When I wrote these demos in my room, I actually already had a lot of ideas and imagination for each song. These demos usually include basic arrangements from me at the beginning, and we tried to preserve some elements from my original demos in the final versions. It’s like me sketching an outline first, and later, adding color, shading, and layers to the picture.
LUNA: I noticed that you make songs in different languages–and sometimes a song features more than one language. How do you choose the language of a song? Are there certain things you feel you can express only in one language vs another?
LÜCY: Most of the songs in this album are written in English, then Mandarin, one song in Japanese, phrases in German, and the language of the Taiwanese Indigenous Saisiyat. I naturally start writing lyrics in English, which is why the majority of the album is in English. As a child, I listened to many British bands, and the phonetics of English fit well with the rhythm of songs. The syllables of English words fit nicely with melodies.
The song “声 (Sei),” on the other hand, wouldn’t sound smooth in English. The cute bouncy melody of the verse suits Japanese pronunciation better. In “Wind blows in my hair” I included the Saisiyat language because my grandparents are Taiwanese Indigenous people. After my grandmother passed away from cancer I wrote this song to feel her presence. The Saisiyat language helps express that feeling of connection when I return to our mountains, where it feels like my grandmother is still communicating with me through nature.
And in “Dance on the Shoreline,” I wanted to include elements of my family. Beside having them in harmonies, I added German because my partner is German. When I first visited my in-laws in Germany, they patiently taught me German, and the phrase I remember the best is a friendly “Guten Morgen.”
LUNA: Thank you for sharing that, it’s such great insight. What do you hope listeners get out of your album?
LÜCY: I asked myself this question before making the album: What stays with the listener when the song ends? I hope my music reminds people that no matter which path they are taking right now, music will always be a steady companion. The emotional flow in these songs is like a river that never stops streaming. Through my voice and melodies, I hope listeners can connect with their own life experiences. [I hope each beat] resonates with their footsteps and heartbeats, ultimately reaching their deepest thoughts.
LUNA: What’s next for LÜCY?
LÜCY:I think LÜCY is moving toward “X,” representing the unknown. No one knows what the future is, but one thing I know for sure—I will continue making the music I love.
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