After a two-year hiatus, Golden Melody Award-winning artist Shi Shi (孫盛希) is finally back with her new EP The Taste Of…, a project that represents the accumulation of her experiences during her break.
“During this period, I experienced a wide range of emotions, from the sweet ones to the bitter ones, and even some moments that were sour or spicy! It is hard to describe the feelings we feel every day using merely our words, but sometimes they can be expressed and digested in a song.”
“In this EP, each track is like a unique cocktail, bringing a different flavour and taste profile, and a different composition of ingredients and emotions. I hope my listeners can savour each one of them!”
Listen to Shi Shi’s new EP The Taste Of… here
The Taste Of… is Shi Shi’s first-ever English-based EP, featuring songs in three languages – English, Mandarin and Korean, a nod towards her roots in South Korea and a first step of Shi Shi’s career onto an international stage.
The album brings together an impressive lineup of global producers, further elevating its musical craftsmanship. Contributors include K-pop producer parkhyeon, who has worked with MISAMO (TWICE) and (G)I-DLE’s Miyeon; Different Sleep, whose recording credits include Zara Larsson and Aminé; and Latin Grammy-winning producer Andrø Pop. Among the album’s tracks, the two songs featuring Korean lyrics—‘Falling in Love’ and ‘Tteokbokki’—stand out as its most gentle and intimate moments.
In ‘Tteokbokki’, Shi Shi breaks away from her usual inspirations of relationships, and works off a theme of “food memories”, portraying the emotions of the purest friendships that are both comfortable and also the hardest to come by, recorded as an ode to old friends.
To Shi Shi, who grew up in South Korea, “떡볶이” (Tteokbokki), the traditional spicy Korean rice cake, is not just a familiar snack, but also a symbolism of youth, reminding her of the path that she took to go home each day after school, and the warm atmosphere of the eateries where she spent her time growing up with her friends.
Shi Shi worked with Chinese American producer Morrison Ma (MOSUN) on ‘Tteokbokki’ to bring a retro feeling to the gentle song, which opens with a self-recorded slice-of-life audio of a busy Korean market to bring the audience into the atmosphere.
In the music video, Shi Shi reunites with her old friend, actress Lee Jung-Min, who previously acted in iconic K-dramas like What’s Wrong with Secretary Kim and Duty After School. Although the two have not met for 16 years, they always kept in touch, and in their first-time working together, showed great chemistry with each other.
Similarly in the music video, they play the role of two childhood friends who come together after a long time in their same local eatery, catching up on all the years that they missed.
Shi Shi is a third-generation South Korean-Chinese singer-songwriter who is based in Taiwan. Her artistry has been recognised in Taiwan at the highest level, having been crowned with the “Best Female Singer” and “Best Album” awards at the prestigious Golden Melody Awards.
In 2020, Shi Shi also gained popularity with her title track ‘Someday or One Day’ for the hit Taiwanese series Someday or One Day (想见你), one of the most popular dramas in recent years. In 2024, she also released a collaborative single ‘Goodbye Spring’ with South Korean jazz artist Lee Jin-ah, gaining attention in both Taiwan and Korea.
Leading into her new EP, Shi Shi highlights her ambitions to continue making music for an international audience, paving the way for the next era of her music.
