ALEXMALISM - 藍

詞、曲、編、監、唱:Alex Yiu@MMSP

Director of MV: Herman Ma



Azure (藍) (2023)

Azure (2023) is a multi-sensory project that expands Yiu’s exploration of synesthesia by synthesizing sound, moving image, and olfaction. Created in collaboration with director Herman Ma and the artisanal fragrance brand BLACK FADES, the work offers a moment of somatic grounding following the intense existential friction of the ALEXMALISM(2022) era.

Sonically, the piece departs from abrasive club rhythms, adopting an ethereal, electro-acoustic dream-pop framework. The introspective lyrics navigate feelings of alienation and existential drift, searching for solace within the permanence of natural phenomena—the sky, the sea, and the stars. This sonic landscape is inextricably linked to its physical counterpart: a bespoke scent (LAAM4) designed to capture the track's spatial and emotional essence. By pairing the audio with an olfactory dimension, Yiu transforms the act of listening into an immersive, embodied ritual.

Thematically, Azure chronicles a psychological transition from seeking external salvation to realizing personal agency. While the opening verses express a desire to write a poem for a "guardian angel," the work concludes with a striking philosophical pivot: "Actually, there are no angels to protect us." Accompanied by an admission of queer desire and vulnerability ("Forgive me for loving him"), the piece abandons the need for divine intervention. Ultimately, Azure is a meditation on the synthesis of body and mind, using multi-sensory stimuli to anchor the listener in the radical acceptance of the present moment.

《藍》(2023)

《藍》(2023)是一項多感官藝術企劃,透過結合聲響、流動影像與嗅覺,進一步延展了姚氏對聯覺(synesthesia)的探索。本作與影像導演 Herman Ma 及香氛品牌 BLACK FADES 合作,在經歷了前作《ALEXMALISM》(2022)中強烈的存在性摩擦後,提供了一個讓身體與意識重新扎根的沉思空間。

在聲響建構上,作品褪去了激烈的俱樂部節拍,轉而採用空靈的電聲與夢幻流行框架。內省的歌詞梳理了都市人的疏離感與存在性漂移,試圖在天空、海洋與星辰等自然意象的恆常性中尋求慰藉。這種聲響景觀與其實體媒介密不可分:一款為歌曲量身定製的香氛蠟燭(LAAM4),透過加入嗅覺維度,姚氏將聆聽體驗轉化為一場極具沉浸感與具身性(embodied)的儀式。

在主題上,《藍》記錄了一場從尋求外部救贖到自我覺醒的心理轉變。儘管歌曲開篇表達了為「守護天使」寫詩的願望,但作品在尾聲卻迎來了一個引人深思的哲學轉向:「其實沒有天使給庇佑」。伴隨著對酷兒情慾與自身脆弱性的坦承(「原諒我愛他」),作品放下了對神性介入的依賴。歸根究底,《藍》是一場關於「身心一體」的冥想,透過多重感官刺激,將聆聽者牢牢錨定於對當下純粹的接納之中。



《藍》於 2023/03/31 零時零分於各大串流平台正式上架


Alexmalism - 藍

天氣不盡意 發生了甚麼事

心意不達致 我想坐在海邊寫詩


寫一首詩 給那守護天使

哼一首歌 給你表達心意

海天一色 將我包圍一切

不需恍惚 心會知道  那終點的方向


旋轉於 藍天空  沉溺於那天氣

時光去 日星空轉 期待這一刻真理

是天空  誕生出 那初生的新星

那光照 圍繞我 是心聲的蘇醒 


一切不盡意 (怎會可盡意)也許這是生活事 (平淡日子)

只有心在意 (總有些大智)看不到月光中的詩(不需意思)


輕輕撫摸 手臂刻畫身世 (人生在世)

深深呼吸 心裡感受一切 (不需算計)

天邊一閃 張開光環之際 (張開姿勢)

身心一體 衝破交界致一刻於一世


旋轉於 藍天空 沉溺於那天氣

時光去 日星空轉 期待這一刻真理

是天空 誕生出那 初生的新星

那光照 圍繞我 是心聲的蘇醒


其實沒有天使 給庇佑

原諒我愛他 膚淺的內疚





Alexmalism - ALEXMALISM
Tracklist

  1. 虛擬妄想
  2. 真假你我 (feat. Kelvin T)
  3. 秘密都市
  4. 夢裡
  5. 鯨魚・月亮.星空


Total: around 37 mins

STREAM

專輯封面:Sharon Lee IG@leeworks


ALEXMALISM (2022)

Released in October 2022, ALEXMALISM is a self-titled conceptual album that functions as a sonic cartography of contemporary urban anxiety, digital alienation, and queer desire. Acting as the sole producer, songwriter, and vocalist (with the exception of a collaboration with Kelvin T), Yiu navigates the psychological friction of existing within a hyper-capitalist metropolis and the complexities of digitally mediated relationships. Grounded in the melodic sensibilities of Cantopop, the album radically deconstructs the genre by cross-pollinating it with underground club frameworks, oscillating seamlessly between Deconstructed Club, 90s Trip-hop, Trap, Industrial, Breakbeat, and Trance.

Narratively, the album is structured as a chronological nocturnal odyssey, traversing a spectrum of existential and affective states. The journey opens with Dusk (暮), utilizing a WaveNet AI to recite Nietzschean philosophy over cinematic soundscapes to set a speculative tone. The album then plunges into the digital and ecological anxieties of the modern era. Virtual Delusion (虛擬妄想) blends avant-pop and rave aesthetics to examine algorithmic determinism and social isolation, seamlessly leading into Ocean (海), which employs sluggish 90s trip-hop to frame the deletion of romantic memories against the backdrop of apocalyptic ecological collapse.

As the night progresses, the album's focus shifts toward interpersonal fractures and sensory navigations. In True or False, You and Me (真假你我), Kelvin T’s brutalist industrial production clashes with Yiu’s emotive Cantopop lyricism to process the trauma of ideological fracture and cognitive dissonance. This abrasive energy dissolves into Fragrance (香), offering a moment of atmospheric introspection that translates olfactory memory into a delicate exploration of transience. The album then moves back into the shadows with Secret City (秘密都市), utilizing retro-industrial rhythms and gender-fluid vocality to map the spatial politics of queer desire within Hong Kong's marginalized urban enclaves.

Descending into the deepest part of the night, the apocalyptic dread resurfaces in the dark Trap aesthetics of Ash (灰), reflecting a visceral anxiety toward a decaying world. The structure begins to fragment in In the Dream (夢裡), where stream-of-consciousness Dancehall mimics the disorientation of fading memories within a vanishing city. Before the final awakening, the light Breakbeat of Whale・Moon・Starry Sky (鯨魚・月亮.星空) offers a moment of poetic respite, reflecting on the creative process and internal fantasies. The journey ultimately resolves with Dawn (晨), transitioning from Trance into a cathartic Drill sequence that brings an end to the nocturnal nihilism, arriving at a radical, illuminated affirmation of existence as the morning light breaks.

《ALEXMALISM》(2022)

《ALEXMALISM》(2022)是一張充滿概念性的同名全錄音室專輯,宛如一幅描繪當代都市焦慮、數碼疏離與酷兒情慾的聲響地圖。除了與 Kelvin T 的合作曲目外,姚氏包辦了整張專輯的曲詞編監與演唱,藉由音樂與文字,梳理個體在高度資本主義都會與網絡中介(digitally mediated)關係下所經歷的心理摩擦與愛慾希冀。在聲響建構上,專輯以粵語流行樂(Cantopop)的旋律為基底,並透過與地下俱樂部音樂框架的交融,對該流派進行了徹底的解構,其音樂風格不斷游移,穿梭於解構俱樂部、90年代 Trip-hop、Trap、工業音樂、碎拍(Breakbeat)以及 Trance 之間。

在敘事結構上,整張專輯猶如一場按時序推進的夜間奧德賽(nocturnal odyssey)。序曲《暮》運用 WaveNet 人工智能朗誦尼采哲學,在電影配樂般的氛圍中奠定了推想式的基調。隨後,專輯深入探討了現代社會的數碼與生態焦慮:《虛擬妄想》融合前衛流行樂與銳舞美學,審視了演算法決定論;緊接的《海》則以慵懶的 90 年代 Trip-hop 節拍,將浪漫記憶的消亡置於末日生態崩壞的背景之下。

隨著夜色漸深,專輯的視角轉向了人際斷裂與感官探索。在《真假你我》中,Kelvin T 粗野的工業製作與姚氏充滿情感的粵語流行演繹產生強烈碰撞,藉此梳理意識形態斷裂與認知失調所帶來的創傷。這種極具侵略性的能量隨後消融於《香》之中,作品在細膩的鋼琴引導下將嗅覺記憶轉化為對無常的探索。接著,專輯再次步入暗處,《秘密都市》運用復古工業節奏與流動於真假音之間的唱腔,勾勒出酷兒情慾在香港都市邊緣空間中的政治性。

當長夜步入最深沉的時刻,末日恐懼在帶有暗黑 Trap 風格的《灰》中再次浮現,反映了對衰敗世界那發自內心的存在性焦慮。音樂結構在《夢裡》開始隨之瓦解,結合 Dancehall 與意識流書寫的節拍具象化了在消亡城市中的迷失感。在最終覺醒之前,輕快的碎拍曲目《鯨魚・月亮.星空》提供了一個充滿詩意的喘息空間,反映了創作者內心的幻想與對創作過程的叩問。這場旅程最終在《晨》中得到救贖,音樂從 Trance 過渡至極具宣洩感的 Drill 段落,為深夜的虛無主義畫上句號,在晨光初現之際,邁向對生命存在作出最堅定、最純粹的肯定。



MV by Sharon Lee
Sharon Lee’s website

ALEXMALISM - 香
詞、曲、編、監、唱:Alex Yiu@MMSP
MV 錄像:Sharon Lee & Wing Ko
MV will be Premiered on 30/8

Fragrance (香) (2022)

Fragrance (2022) is an audiovisual collaboration with moving-image artists Sharon Lee and Wing Ko that translates olfactory memory into sonic and visual landscapes. Departing from the abrasive club rhythms of his other works, Yiu adopts a highly introspective, atmospheric pop framework anchored by delicate piano arrangements. The lyrics utilize a botanical taxonomy of scents—such as sandalwood, vetiver, and patchouli—as metaphors for human psychology, fleeting encounters, and interpersonal incompatibility. Operating as a synesthetic map, the piece evokes the sensory experience of wandering through a botanical garden at dusk, where invisible aromas act as catalysts for distinct affective memories.

The accompanying moving-image work juxtaposes the intimate nostalgia of lo-fi, archival-style camcorder footage with performative sequences of Yiu at a vanity table. Engaging directly with the materiality and textures of different scents, the video frames fragrance as a medium of transience. By capturing the fleeting nature of both aroma and human connection, the work becomes a meditation on ephemerality. Ultimately, Fragrance questions the overwhelming multiplicity of modern desire, asking whether one can locate a singular, enduring attachment amidst a dense fog of sensory overload.

《香》(2022)

《香》(2022)是一部與影像藝術家 Sharon Lee 及 Wing Ko 共同創作的視聽作品,旨在將嗅覺記憶轉化為聲響與視覺景觀。有別於以往極具侵略性的俱樂部節拍,姚氏在此作中轉向更為內省、氛圍感強烈的流行音樂框架,並以細膩的鋼琴編制為核心。歌詞將四季的各式香氣(如檀香、香根草、廣藿香)作為人類心理狀態、短暫邂逅與人際關係中「不匹配」的隱喻。作品宛如一張聯覺(synesthetic)地圖,喚起了黃昏漫步於動植物公園的感官體驗,當中每一種無形的氣味皆觸發著特定的情感記憶。

在視覺呈現上,流動影像交織了帶有私密懷舊感的 Lo-fi 手提攝錄機日常片段,以及姚氏在梳妝台前細意品味各種氣味與質感的展演(performative)場景。錄像將「香氣」視為一種探討消逝的媒介,捕捉了氣味與人際連結的短暫本質。透過感嘆人生如香氣般稍縱即逝,作品最終化作一場關於無常的冥想——詰問個體在面對茫茫的感官刺激與多重慾望時,是否仍能堅定地投身於那唯一、純粹的牽絆。


《香》歌詞
一剎間 盛夏綻放了柑桔果子的氣息
只記得 熱夜乘載了丁香香氣滿懷寂靜
是髮尖 在臉上留下了 香根草的自然茂盛
香氣是記憶 芳草在嘆息

轉眼間 落葉遺下了馥郁香草樹林味道
廣藿香 幻夢遇上了香脂琥珀雪松夢露
是晚霜 在臉上留下玫瑰煙草給交結的鬚
海風與晚香 梔子嘆午騷

檀香充斥肌膚擴散 是夢迴回到那風景
癒創木修補苦與痛 是自然重塑那心聲
無花果不結花 沉香苦戀桂花 你是百合
我是花椒 根本思想不配 吧

涎香給沖洗漂泊拍 岸自然無價貴香氛
玫瑰需蒸氣穿透百 歷練成傳說百千金
茶香消失太急 是鳶尾花太狠 我是柑橘
你是絲絨 根本色彩不配 吧

冬天的雪 是甚麼香
薰衣的草 在幻想
肌膚的氣 味是風霜
水中的你 在歌唱

春天的氣象 在放縱(洋葵香)
蘇醒的獸 是萬千種(麝香)
風景的嗅味 是春風(泥濘雨香)
香水的你 是暗湧

檀香充斥肌膚擴散 是夢迴回到那風景
癒創木修補苦與痛 是自然重塑那心聲
無花果不結花 沉香苦戀桂花 你是百合
我是花椒 根本思想不配 吧

迷失於千億種氣韻 但味道隨散變清空
人生苦短可否縱愛 定斷然投愛那一香
無聲音的氣息 隨輕風穿罅隙
我是青草 你是花朵 可否聽你不作話





Secret City, 2022
Music and video
3’17”

Secret City (2022) is a collaborative moving-image work developed with Winston Yeung that investigates the spatial politics of queer desire within Hong Kong's marginal urban enclaves. Set against the post-industrial backdrop of Tai Kok Tsui's back alleys, the video functions as a site-specific performance where the physical decay of the metropolis mirrors its fading spiritual landscape. Echoing the track's lyric regarding the "vanishing faith across this land," the work frames these hidden, nocturnal corners as spaces where temptation and clandestine narratives become tools for navigating urban alienation.

Through the methodology of drag, Yiu’s on-screen persona subverts traditional navigations of public space to embody a gender-fluid stream of desire. This visual exploration is anchored by a rigid, retro-industrial sonic framework. Employing an 80s-inspired vocal performativity that continuously oscillates between chest register and falsetto, the work uses vocality itself as a metaphor for the fluidity of queer identity. Ultimately, Secret City channels visceral, unrecorded urban secrets into an audiovisual dialogue on identity, sexuality, and spatial dynamics. 

《秘密都市》(2022)
3 分 17 秒

《秘密都市》(2022)是一部由姚氏與 Winston Yeung 共同創作的流動影像作品(moving-image work),旨在探討酷兒情慾在香港都市邊緣空間中的政治性。作品以大角咀後街巷弄的後工業地景為背景,將錄像轉化為一場場域特定展演(site-specific performance),城市實體的衰敗正正映射了其逐漸消散的精神面貌——一如歌詞所述:「信念消失於這邦」。在這些隱蔽的角落裡,誘惑與地下敘事成為了個體應對都市疏離感的一種方式。

透過變裝(drag)實踐,姚氏的螢幕形象顛覆了對公共空間的傳統認知,化身為模糊性別界線的情慾載體。這種視覺探索被錨定於復古工業音樂的聲響框架之中。透過借鑑80年代的流行唱腔,其聲線在真音與假音之間不斷游移,作品將「發聲性」(vocality)本身視為酷兒身份流動性的隱喻,將我城的地下秘密轉化為一場關於身份認同與空間動態的視聽對話。


"Secret City" Lyrics


Pitch-black sky, the route unseen,
Ignite the bike, ride the machine,
Hands grip tight, caught in between,
(Tell me where’s your sensitive spot)

Breath speeds up, the force fields rise,
Short, sharp gasps like a falcon's cries,
One attacks, one defends, no compromise,
(I’d like to do it without barriers)

It's the lingering echo of a blissful ache,
It's the fragrant recipe the night winds make,
It's the secret intel we never share (how could we share?)
A midnight rendezvous in the coastal air.
It's you on the street, roaming through the night,
Refracting my gaze, returning the sight,
(It's you looking back in the fading light)

Indulge me tonight, hit the basement space,
Who cares if tomorrow leaves an empty trace?
The vocals drop, setting a brand new pace,
(Do you wanna dance with me)

A twist, a bend, tracing marks you expose,
With every breath, the temptation grows,
Bodies colliding as the dead-end glows,
(Let me know you further tonight)

It's the echoing ache of flesh and bone,
A rainy night blurring the world we've known,
In the secret city, left completely unsaid (how could it be said?)
All these visceral forms, unrecorded and shed.
It's the vanishing faith across this land,
It's temptation taking the upper hand,
(Let us go explore it tonight)


《秘密都市》歌詞

漆黑 天空 看不見 路線
機車 點火 乘引擎 出戰
雙手 捉緊 那腰間 的正面
(Tell me where’s your sensitive spot)
呼吸 急促 隨力場 上漲
聲音 短促 像猛禽 歌唱
一攻 一守 還沒有 心退讓
(I’d like to do it without barriers)
是快樂的痛在迴盪
是晚夜風的香配方
是秘密資訊不去講(怎去講)
在某夜相約在沿岸
是你在街邊夜遊蕩
讓我目光折射回望
(是你在街邊給回望)
今晚 賞面 來地牢 熱舞
聽朝 點樣 誰在乎 乾燥
歌聲 響起 再興起 新舞步
(Do you wanna dance with me)
一扭 一曲 看衣領 畫記
一呼 一吸 是誘惑 的你
肢體 衝擊 在絕處 生了機
(Let me know you further tonight)
是血肉的痛在迴盪
是雨夜沾污我眼光
在秘密都市不去講(怎去講)
沒記錄的種種明狀
是信念消失於這邦
是誘惑支配這一方
(讓我地今晚去探訪)






Alexmalism - 單曲《海》
作曲、歌詞、編曲、混音、監 製:Alex Yiu@MMSP

Ocean (海) (2022)

Ocean (2022) is a song that utilizes the framework of ecological collapse and apocalypticism as a metaphor for fleeting digital and romantic memory. Moving away from aggressive club aesthetics, the track embraces the slow, atmospheric pacing of 90s trip-hop. Against a backdrop of sluggish, syncopated beats and intertwining string arrangements, Yiu’s vocals reflect on a singular nocturnal encounter by the sea, reframing a brief moment of connection against the vast indifference of cosmic forces.

The lyrics invoke imagery of falling meteorites, radioactive rain, and barren wastelands to equate the termination of a relationship with the destruction of a world. By intertwining the biological language of genetics with the digital language of "deleting files," the work suggests that both human intimacy and the natural environment are subject to predetermined expiration. Ultimately, Ocean serves as a sonic memorial—a lament for an irretrievable past suspended in an atmosphere of inevitable decay.

《海》(2022)

《海》(2022)是一部以生態崩壞與末日論(apocalypticism)為隱喻的歌曲,旨在探討稍縱即逝的浪漫記憶與數碼痕跡。有別於激烈的俱樂部聲響,本作回歸了 90 年代 Trip-hop 緩慢而充滿氛圍感的節奏。在慵懶的碎拍與交錯的弦樂聲中,姚氏的歌聲訴說著一個夜觀星海的短暫相遇,將微小的情感連結置於宇宙洪荒的冷漠之中。

歌詞藉由隕石墜落、受污染的空氣與廢土等末日意象,將一段關係的終結等同於一個世界的毀滅。透過將「基因宿命」的生物學語言與「刪改檔案」的數碼語言交織在一起,作品暗示了人類的親密關係與自然環境一樣,皆受制於某種必然的消亡。歸根究底,《海》是一座以聲響築成的紀念碑——在不可逆轉的衰敗氛圍中,為一去不返的舊時代唱頌的一曲輓歌。



《海》歌詞

是你吧 在落葉的季度
讓我 迷失得顛倒
那檔案 訴說你我一切
句句都要是結局提早
沒有吧 段落大可刪改
宇宙 怎可主宰
這基因 不過是種宿命
隕石墜下 在摧毁舊城

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誰在哪夜 聽海浪
浪泊邊緣 天仰望
望見遠雲 星震盪 
是我心頭 星閃發光 
時光 一去不復返
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是你吧 是你吧

別仰望 末日後的國度
是你 藏於海邊廢土
那空氣 進佔每次呼吸
化作 污染物眼淚微泣
下雨吧 落下另一山坡
但已沒 種子可結果
這星體 不過是一種運
宇宙萬物 並不會在乎

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是你吧 是我吧