Australian-American duo Yulan & Blaise return with their art pop single “Falling 花火落,” a track that blends angelic English and Mandarin vocals with a rich tapestry of electronic and acoustic instrumentation. This second release from their upcoming 2025 EP follows their debut single, ‘God Complex’.
“Falling 花火落” explores themes of duality and betrayal, centering on a seductive yet destructive love. The duo uses the metaphor of a 花 (flower) and 火 (flame) that burn and 落 (fall), capturing a romance that ends quickly, leaving behind an intense, almost euphoric lovesickness. As they explain, “When you combine 花 (flower) and 火 (flame) in Chinese you get the word “firework”.
The self-produced track features an intricate blend of electronic textures and instruments played by the duo, including Chinese flutes, erhu, guzheng, and contrabass saxophone. A notable element is Blaise’s soaring alto saxophone solo, a nod to his two decades as a punk saxophonist for the Violent Femmes. The track’s influences range from 90s Mandopop and film scores by Shigeru Umabayashi to 1950s Chinese movie musicals. Yulan’s vocal stylings are informed by her childhood, where she learned to sing Mandarin from her mother’s favorite songs from old Chinese movie musicals.
Beyond its exploration of romance, “Falling 花火落” carries a deeper existential weight. The song was created as smoke from Tasmanian bushfires drifted into the duo’s home, while California, Blaise’s home state, was also experiencing wildfires. This imbued the flower and flame metaphor with a greater urgency, extending the grief beyond the romantic to encompass a broader sense of loss, yet also suggesting the possibility of rebirth.
The accompanying video, directed by Gabriel Morrison and shot at Ming Court Restaurant in Hobart, Australia, charts the bittersweet end of a romance, with visual nods to 1990s cinema classics like ‘Fallen Angels’ and ‘Raise the Red Lantern’.
“Falling 花火落” lingers like the memory of a firework’s glow—brief but unforgettable.
