New album unleashes vitality

Chinese band Haya had a hectic schedule in 2024. They toured 18 Chinese cities, exhausting yet exhilarating, and it provided a powerful source of inspiration for their new music.

The long hours on the road, and the intimate connection with their audience gave the band a fresh perspective on life, love and the human experience.

Despite the physical toll of touring, the journey sparked a deep well of creativity, ultimately leading to the creation of new songs under the title of an EP (extended play), named The Returning Wind. In support of their new songs, the band launched a nationwide tour last Saturday visiting cities, including Beijing, Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, Guangzhou, Guangdong province, and Shanghai. The tour will go on until Sept 27.

"Our previous theme was migration, going to new destinations. Haya, in a way, mirrors that too," says Daiqingtana, the lead singer and songwriter of the band, who was born in Delingha, Qinghai province, and studied vocal performance at Minzu University of China. "Inside, I also have this feeling of migration. I hadn't written for a long time, and everything became repetitive. But when I started writing lyrics again, when we began rehearsing, that feeling of inner vitality returned.

"It felt like when I had just graduated from college — it was such a wonderful feeling," she says.

"It's not like before; with age, the feeling has become richer, more grounded. For me, it feels like a return to a vibrant, fresh starting point. My sensitivity to everything around me has become sharper, more emotional. It feels like a gust of wind has blown me back," says Daiqingtana. "My yearning for the beauty of music is like a seed carried by the wind, returning. Music, like the wind, is invisible, yet it can be felt."

One of the new songs that she wrote is titled Touching You, a song born from a deeply emotional and personal place.Daiqingtana shares that the song's creation was influenced by a moment of isolation during the last tour, when she found herself sitting alone in her room, lit only by a candle's flame.

"That night, I felt this overwhelming sadness, a sense of being lost," she says. "But in the stillness of the candlelight, I began to realize how disconnected we are from truly seeing and loving one another. And that's when I started writing this song."

Daiqingtana sees the song as an exploration of the need for true intimacy and connection — touching not just physically, but spiritually and emotionally.

"The act of touching, of truly seeing someone for who they are, is love in its purest form. That's the power of touch — the recognition of one another's soul," she adds.

Her husband, Quan Sheng, who plays the morin khuur or horsehead fiddle, a traditional Mongolian ethnic musical instrument, adds that "touching" in the song also refers to the connection with nature. When they performed outdoors on the grassland of the Inner Mongolia autonomous region, where the band came from, their faces were touched by the wind and the sun.

Waiting, another new song, was born during their rehearsal sessions and brings a fresh sound to their evolving music style.This song, sung in Mongolian, departs from their usual musical direction, leaning more toward a pop vibe, yet still carries the emotional depth and soul of their traditional roots.

"Waiting is a tribute to the ethnic Mongolian music of our childhood — specifically the songs they grew up listening to," says Mural Bimurat, who, born in Urumqi, capital of the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, plays dombra in the band. Though it incorporates elements of their familiar folk sounds, the song introduces a more contemporary feel, blending post-rock influences with a fresh, emotional tone.The song takes on a new life when performed live, where its full emotional impact is felt by the audience.

"When people listen to music, they either feel something deeply or don't connect with it at all. It all depends on their own understanding of life," Quan Sheng adds. "For us, the goal is always to create music that feels right — something that resonates personally. The melody, the lyrics, and the vocals are all equally important. And when the guitar and morin khuur come together in the solo part of the song, it's like the soul of the music comes alive."

In Mongolian language, haya means "the edge". It is a metaphor for the nomadic lifestyle that has become so edgy today.Founded in 2006, the band has been devoted to making world music based on Mongolian traditions. The current members of the band also include guitarist Xibo, bassist Liu Tianlei and percussionist Zhang Chao.

Quan Sheng grew up with his grandparents on the grassland and moved to Hohhot, the capital of the Inner Mongolia autonomous region, with his parents at age 8, when he started to learn the violin and morin khuur. The versatile singer-songwriter graduated from the music department of Minzu University of China in Beijing in 1991, where he met his wife.

Quan Sheng has long been a trailblazer in blending traditional Chinese and ethnic Mongolian music with modern influences.In the 1980s, he cofounded one of the first pop-rock bands in Inner Mongolia. His groundbreaking work combined the unique sound of the morin khuur with the energy of modern rock music, forging a new path in the world of ethnic and popular music.

As a professor and researcher of ethnic musical instruments at the Minzu University of China, Quan Sheng has continually pondered the future of Chinese traditional music. His experiences collaborating with world music ensembles featuring musicians from Europe, Germany, India and the Netherlands deeply inspired him. These collaborations reinforced his belief that Chinese traditional music should transcend regional and ethnic boundaries. He envisions a world where diverse musical traditions can maintain their unique identities while uniting to reveal the universal qualities of human music.

The band has released award-winning albums, including their first album, Wolf Totem, in 2007, and Silent Sky in 2010. In 2020, it appeared at the popular Chinese reality show, The Big Band, allowing their music to be enjoyed by a wider audience.

"With Haya, we always envision the fusion of global influences with China's rich cultural heritage, aiming to create music that celebrates both individuality and the commonality of human experience," he says. "Over the years, we toured worldwide, and no matter where we go, we always go back to our roots."