MONG TONG 夢東

Taiwanese psychedelic duo share new single
Hear “Jou-Tau” now

Debut album ‘Mystery 秘神’ out June 19th on Guruguru Brain

Taipei-based sibling duo Mong Tong 夢東 have shared a second single from their forthcoming debut album.  ‘Mystery 秘神’ is set for release on June 19th via Guruguru Brain, the label for Asian underground music run by Kikagaku Moyo.

Growing up in Taiwan in the 90’s, the Mong Tong 夢東 brothers take their inspiration from ​電子琴音樂 which they describe as “relaxing Chinese synth pop” along with video game soundtracks, psychedelic music, doom metal and sound collage/library music. On “Mystery 秘神” these inspirations combine with the dark humour of Taiwanese folklore and a love of conspiracy theories to form what they describe as “a psychedelic journey to the east.”

The band describe new single “Jou-Tau” saying: “This track is a groovy trip that takes us into a peculiar realm where a big stone gave birth to a monkey king!”

Brothers Hom Yu and Jiun Chi also play in ​Prairie WWWW​ (落差草原 WWWW) and Dope Purple. They both returned to Taipei in 2017 after finishing their studies and before long began to explore their mutual obsession for Taiwanese occult-inspired art and vintage superstitious imagery, channelling it through music. Mong Tong means many things in Chinese, but the translation they choose to fit their music is “the east-side of dreams”. 

First single “Chakra” is one of the first songs they wrote and set the tone for the rest of the album. It sees the duo use sound samples including sword fights and a voice-over that amused them in which a reporter talks about the connection between Hinduism and UFOs. The resulting record is a surreal and mystifying journey through 80’s cult influences, with a distinctly Far Eastern outlook.

Recorded in their home studio in Taipei, “Mystery 秘神” is a psychedelic journey into Taiwanese folklore combined with the 80’s media obsession with the supernatural. It’s a record that manages to combine nostalgia and tradition with humour and an underlying intrinsic earthiness to create something unlike anything else out there.

The album’s artwork is inspired by vintage Taiwanese book covers (Hom Yu runs an Instagram account dedicated to them here) and contains a hidden code; a puzzle they challenge listeners to solve.

‘Mystery 秘神’ track list:
1. Intro
2. Mystery 秘神
3. Chakra
4. Jou-tau
5. 717
6. Ancient Mars
7. A Nambra
8. In The K. Court

Links:
https://www.facebook.com/MongTongBand/
https://mongtong.bandcamp.com