Loneliness. In our hyper-connected world, it can be hard to find time to be alone. And as we all project our YOLO-est selves on social media, admitting to sometimes feeling blue has become harder than ever. Not so for Mandark.
With her jazz-tinged late-night bedroom electronica, this Taiwanese musician likes to embrace emotions that other songwriters might avoid – including those on the dark side.
"I like the moments of feeling desire and love, and especially loneliness," she confides. "Songs that feel lonely are great to listen to, so I try to make songs that feel a little lonely."
The result is a dreamlike wash of lazy midnight tones and longing lyrics, a sensual sound that captures the restless feeling of missing someone, of unsatisfiable carnal craving, of hazy regret.
"I make music in the middle of the night," she tells me. "I'm a night cat. When I want to focus on composing music, ideally I would do nothing at all for the whole day and just stay at home until midnight, when it's quiet. And then I find it very quick to compose."
Who Is Mandark
I first fell in love with Mandark's solo music a couple of years ago, playing her album "BADA88" on such heavy rotation that Spotify Wrapped declared it my most-listened album of 2024, with "8ODY" my most-listened song and Mandark my most-played artist.
Born and raised in Taiwan, Mandark began learning classical piano at around 5 years old at the behest of her parents, gaining influence from classical music as well as traditional Chinese instruments. Later, she studied music at university, including jazz performance, music production and composition.
After graduating, in 2015 she joined two bands ー Sweet John and I Mean Us ー as a singer. It was her first time to use her voice. As both bands became popular, in 2021 she decided to explore her musical yearnings more deeply by simultaneously pursuing a solo career.
"Both of my bands sound quite different from each other, but there were still other styles I wanted to try," she explains. Far from the more direct sound of her two bands, her solo songs have a relaxed, understated vocal delivery that suits the minor chords over which they sit. She sings mostly in English, which she feels suits her solo sound better. (I Mean Us also sing in English, while Sweet John's songs are in Taiwanese Mandarin.)
Her Vocals
"I know my vocals are not strong enough to sing big pop melodies, so I made songs that suit my voice and that are comfortable to sing," she says, explaining her low-key vibe. "I start with maybe just a chord progression and a short melody, then consider what kind of story or emotional state fits that melody or sound, and I then focus the lyrics around that."
Her lyrics tackle topics of love and regret, but they are also often quite sensual and sometimes playfully sexual as well, which is enhanced by the sultry production on songs like "8ODY," "Dalida," "Playlist" and "Dying To Hurt You" from her album "BADA88" (which itself is a play on the word "badass").
"When I was making my first album 'BADA88,' I was still getting to know myself," she says. "I was transitioning from my twenties into my thirties, and from a girl to a woman. I didn't want to write anything too explicitly sexual, but I wanted to hide little references in my lyrics that I would not usually say in my daily life."
Influences from Japan
Mandark's music tackles quite a few different genres, including electronic, jazz, funk, synth wave and city pop. And yet it all fits together naturally and sounds cohesive. Her most recent singles – 2025's "ASO," "EXX" and "cold." – were produced with help from her friend Ral Chen, from the band Lily Chou-Chou Lied.
"I didn't have a particular goal for how many songs to release in 2025, so I took a relaxed approach," she says. "'cold.' was the last of those songs. I'm quite a sensitive and emotional person ー I can be happy one minute and sad the next. Every day is different. So I wanted to make a song to show the darker side of my mind and the effect little things have on me.
"In the video, a small amount of water on the floor becomes a huge wash of rain. And fine paper cuts leave large cuts on my face. The video producers took the concept of my emotions and added their own feelings of anxiety and overthinking. The video shows things that may seem small but that feel intense inside, and grow into something overwhelming."
Mandark also has a strong affinity for Japan, occasionally peppering her songs with Japanese lyrics, which she says is in tribute to the Japanese fans of her bands. She has also collaborated with Japanese artists including producer De De Mouse and electronic duo jean.
"I like Japanese animation, dramas and fashion – that is, Japanese culture," she says. "I'm inspired by how Japanese creators build complex worlds around their work. The artists there give me the confidence to shape my own style."
Connections
I've visited Taipei many times and noticed a strong influence from Japanese culture, which Mandark agrees is front and center for many in Taiwan.
"The connection is visible in daily life," she says. "Many Taiwanese people grow up watching Japanese animation and listening to Japanese music and following Japanese fashion. So these references are part of our background, and culturally we feel very similar."
In October 2025, she held her first solo performance in Japan at the Mind Travel music festival in Tokyo, which she saw as a chance to connect with her Japanese fans. She performed with local Japanese musicians and dancers, putting on a passionate show.
"It meant a lot to me, because I've performed in Japan before with my bands, so I know some of my fans there," she says. "I treated the show with the same level of care as my shows in Taiwan, and I wanted to leave a strong and beautiful impression."
Being in a Band ー or Two
Despite all of this solo activity, Mandark still plays regularly with her two bands, both of which have strong fan bases across Asia.
"I Mean Us has a more textured and dreamy sound, and our songs are in English," she explains. "Sweet John is more pop-focused and closer to the Mandarin pop market. So they represent two different approaches to composing, and also to relationships between the members, but these relationships have changed as we've gotten older."
Being in a band, the responsibility for making music, performing it, and success and failure is split between multiple band members, whereas for a solo artist, it's all on one person's shoulders. I ask Mandark if she feels a difference between activities as a band member vs solo artist ー not only in terms of apportionment of responsibility, but freedom of expression too.
"Yes, freedom," she reflects. "I started out by playing in bands, so I was used to respecting everyone's voice when making decisions. And that means it takes longer to make decisions. On the plus side, that can feel very collective and powerful, because we've all decided on something together. Also, we've grown together from small stages to bigger ones, and shared both happy moments and low points.
As a Solo Artist
"As a solo artist, decision-making is much faster because it's only me, but the process of reaching success can feel a little bit lonely. When things don't work out, it can be quite hard, and I have to cry alone."
I ask what she means, and she gives the following example. "When I released 'BADA88' two years ago, I performed some big concerts to promote it, and I had to spend a lot of energy on setting up the shows and performing all of the songs. But not as many people came as I'd hoped. I used up so much power for what felt like a small result. It made me realize I need partners, because it's too much to do it by myself."
Certainly, in 2026, Mandark does not need to worry about going it alone. Her band, Sweet John, released a new album, "Good Afternight" in October and is still touring to support its release in Taiwan, with an appearance at the 2026 Chosen Festival in Taipei on January 31 and a tour of Asia to follow. Her other band, I Mean Us, is working on a new album as well, which may be released in 2026.
What Comes Next?
We'll likely also get a new solo release from Mandark this year.
"I enjoyed the pace of 2025, where I got to live in the moment, so I don't have concrete plans this year," she says. "I hope to organize my 2025 singles into an EP with some new songs and release a physical CD that my fans can collect. Maybe I'll release that in August, around my birthday, because I often do big things in August."
For now, Mandark is surrounded by love as she languishes in longing, lust and loneliness. Crawl under the covers and listen close.
For more information, visit her website.
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Author: Daniel Robson
Daniel Robson is a veteran music journalist and Executive Producer of IGN Japan. Read his interviews and his series Gamer's World on JAPAN Forward, and find him on X (formerly Twitter).
