Scintii
Shanghai, China
Dona Liberta
Behind the Music
ScintiiI’m grateful that there’s a lot of creative freedom in this project. Since I’m a singer, I usually have a narrative in my head when I’m working on songs. Therefore, using Ian’s narratives to develop my music is not too different than my usual process.
But it’s fairly difficult to put a subject as large and complex as this into words. For something to inspire me, it has to have some kind of emotional connection to latch on to, undisturbed by logical thinking. What interests me in particular about the ocean is the grey area it embodies and contains, along with the extreme emotions it evokes on opposite sides of spectrums, such as hope to hopelessness. It can signify freedom and the unknown, but it can also become a swallowing prison.
With the internet bombarding people with information, many facts are questionable and impartial journalism is often lacking. Ian’s reporting gives insight into overlooked areas, like terrifying work conditions on fishing boats, sea slavery, offshore abortion and fish stock and ecosystems in crisis. There is a real need to share these stories to inform people.
About Scintii
Taiwanese producer and vocalist Scintii, aka Stella Chung, brings a diverse background in both studio composition and pop music to her crystalline club music, which she perfected while residing in London for several years.
Since her move to Shanghai in 2017, Scintii has become a core member of the thriving music scene in the city. Her DJ sets have featured on i-D, Diskotopia on RBMA Radio Tokyo, NTS, Rinse FM and Radar Radio. Over the last year, she’s played at Sonar Hong Kong and the Southbank Centre in London, and headlined at Corsica Studios and The Social. More recently, Scintii’s trademark vocals can be found on the critically acclaimed album “Inside the Rose” from These New Puritans, a collaboration that also saw her supporting and performing on stage with the band on their European tour.
“Mica,” her first release, pioneered an enrapturing and refreshing sound. Inspired by the form and body of minerals, Scintii’s productions pensively underpin dark, elusive, cut-up pop vocals with glowing synths and rhythms from U.K. grime to the dembow. Her second EP, “Aerial / Paperbags,” released in November of 2018 via Shanghai powerhouse label SVBKVLT, takes her boundary-breaking sound to captivating new rhythms. Critics have called “Aerial / Paperbags” a “goth-tinged nocturnal synthpop” (Resident Advisor) that has both “soothing fluidity” (Dazed) and a ghostly “dark side” (i-D).