Hong Kong’s rising pop/R&B artist Mia Matayoshi has spent years on stages across the city, collecting pieces of herself along the way. On June 4th, she finally showed the world the full picture. Her debut album, Honeymoon Phase, arrived at midnight, but the lead up to its release took place in GOSSiP in Central, Hong Kong, building just the right energy for her music.
The dress code for the evening was clear: florals and dark metallics. Mia arrived in a stunning purple two-piece ensemble, custom alltered to feature metallic detailing along the top. A sleek belt with subtle metal accents added an extra edge to the look. Adorned with Crystaling’s jewelry, she made the entrance, one that set the tone for the night to be remembered by all.
GET TO KNOW MIA MATAYOSHI
Mia doesn’t write songs for the radio. Instead, she writes them for the girl who overanalyses a text message at 2 a.m. For the girl caught in the vicious cycle of catching feelings and letting them go. Her music captures all the messy parts of love that everyone feels, but no one says out loud.
Honeymoon Phase traces the full life cycle of a romantic relationship — from the giddy, terrifying beginning to the quiet, bruised acceptance at the end. Over the span of a year, working closely with producer Michael Lance, a familiar voice on RTHK Radio 3, Mia built Honeymoon Phase with endless vocal layers and ear candy. In the album, Mia uses two symbols to guide the listener: flowers for emotional stages, moon phases for timing. A budding romance gets a sprout; a breakup gets a wilted petal; the full moon shines on delusion, so it was only right that Gossip was draped in five foot tall flowers to match.
MOMENTS FROM THE NIGHT
It was such a special night and I was thrilled to see everyone singing along to the singles that have been released, and being the firsts to hear the unreleased tracks from the album. I can’t wait to see more independent artists come out of Hong Kong to liven up the music scene here.
– Mia Matayoshi
The crowd showed up for Mia in a spectacular way, with friends, family, industry members, and long-term supporters eagerly waiting. Opening with close friends Zolie Chan and JOCE. who are both musicians in their own right and, much like Mia, balance the local and international aspects of Hong Kong’s music scene. Zolie brought her own piano to match her softer melodic voice, and Joce gave deep energy and Cantonese rapping, all preparing for the unreleased songs to be performed.
A night to remember, transforming Hong Kong’s Cocktail Club Gossip into an exclusive concert for Mia’s album release along with a surprise outfit change and dance number with two backup dancers for the finale of the night, and it definitely got everyone dancing along.
Her training as both a dancer and model, have taught her one thing: that vulnerability is a performance too. And oftentimes, it’s the hardest one to nail. This album is the true embodiment of that. Her songs don’t tell young girls to toughen up. They tell them to feel it fully, write it down, and then maybe turn it into a next hit single.
