“These songs are like monsters that live in my heart, sleeping with me each night in my bedroom,” Chen De-an tells Apple Music about her debut album. Performing as Andr (her given name with the syllables flipped), the Taiwan-based songwriter started making music at home during her first year of secondary school and brings that DIY pop aesthetic to shhh, it’s under my bed—on a thematic level as well as a sonic one. “The imagery echoes both the childhood belief that monsters lurk under the bed, making it hard to fall asleep, and the teenage habit of hiding beloved collections in shoeboxes, secreted away under the bed,” she says regarding a narrative arc that spans dreamtime from noon, to night, to daybreak. As she grapples with Gen Z anxieties, Andr follows a whimsical muse through the realms of indie pop and alt-R&B, blending whatever elements strike her fancy. The result is often a study in contrasts—the intimacy of the spare, acoustic accompaniment to “Her” is fenced off behind chilly shoegaze shimmer, while the lush ear candy of “Yarn” disguises an ode to overthinking inspired by a line from a Hikaru Lee play. Likewise, the lyrics switch freely between English and Chinese as the artist’s mood dictates. Produced by Kain Han, the album features veteran alternative artists who give Andr room to flex her genre muscles. R&B phenomenon The Crane helped write the soulful “Hypnotize”, while No Party for Cao Dong drummer Shih Wei Huang and Sunset Rollercoaster bassist Hung-li Chen contribute to the crunchy indie rock sound of “Move On”. The city pop vibe of “Swapping Socks”, meanwhile, gains an international dimension thanks to a collaboration with Thai singer-songwriter mindfreakkk. Below, Andr shares with Apple Music some of the album’s secrets, track by track. “Dreamgate Intro” “The arrangement imagines a dreamlike space, aiming to guide listeners into an immersive state with subtle sounds and vocal chops that feel like dream murmurs, setting the mood for the album. The song samples Yuki Hsu’s ’90s Mandopop classic “The Monster”, a song that played often at home during my childhood, tying into the album’s monster theme.” “Pandemic” “The intro beat is something I created in 2021 when I first started making music. I was surprised that the producer kept it exactly as is, making it the album’s gateway track. The repeated ‘shhh’ in the pre-chorus references the album’s theme. Switching between downcast and sarcastic tones, the song describes hitting rock bottom and being suspicious of people’s kindness, wondering if they secretly enjoy seeing me in despair. This dense fog of negativity feels like a contagious disease—no matter how carefully you guard yourself, anyone who gets close can’t avoid it.” “i don’t lose sleep anymore” “Sometimes, I get the urge to ruin everything, so I wrote this song about a mischievous Cupid, imagining myself as a video game character who finds joy in disrupting others’ happiness and delighting in chaos. I expressed this emotion with an aggressive synth bassline. ‘I’d rather take a punch or two, than see you smile again’—I’m willing to transform into an evil Cupid, just to destroy your happiness, even if it means taking a hit or two.” “Yarn” “I’m someone who overthinks and lives in my head, with thoughts tangled up like a ball of yarn. This song is for those who are a bit proud, a bit romantic, a bit lonely and have thoughts that are hard to untangle. While producing this track, we were inspired by Clairo’s Charm, so we included a lot of retro-sounding instruments. It’s the track with the most intricate instrumentation on the album, requiring refined production. But if you listen closely at the end, you’ll hear a subtle noise—the sound of my producer’s stomach growling while recording the guitar. We liked leaving organic randomness beneath the polished surface.” “Her” “This song is the fastest I’ve ever written, taking only half an hour as if it came to me by itself while I sat with an acoustic guitar at my desk. After finishing, I found myself in tears—it felt like some long-suppressed emotions had finally found a release. It’s a very special song to me.” “Sundown Interlude” “Following the album’s timeline, this song brings us to sunset. Through guitar sounds and park ambiance I recorded on my way home, it leads into the evening. This song was from a casual guitar recording, and it serves as a prelude to ‘Nights’ and the album’s night trilogy.” “Nights” “This song is about farewells, with a clear image in mind: waiting alone at home, accompanied only by the fish left behind by a distant loved one, imagining racing with the departed only to lose sight of them at a familiar street corner. As time drags on, I wonder if they also look at the moon and think of home. This synth-pop track has a vaporwave-like dreaminess due to the distortion created by constant tempo experimentation. With the vocal, I aimed to paint a gentle yet melancholic scene. Perfect for a solo listen on an autumn night with headphones.” “Hypnotize” “The track was co-written with Taiwanese alternative R&B artist The Crane. The lyrics were written during an overnight train ride from Berlin to Amsterdam. Long-term partners can be like a well-worn jumper—familiar through changing seasons, yet subtly becoming a soft restraint. How can we extend the lifespan of love? This question deeply fascinates me.” “Night Lotion” “My debut single is about obsession mixed with humility, a kind of doomed devotion. I’m willing to melt and lose form to cling to someone, like lotion spreading. Switching freely between Chinese and English lyrics is natural for me, and this song is perfect for that. The ending drumbeat was a beautiful accident. It happened when we mistakenly placed the drum track at the end during production, but we loved the unexpected vibe it created, so we kept it.” “Move On” “With the booming guitar, I wanted to take listeners to the dawn, the moment of sunrise. How can you support a heartbroken friend? Take them for a drive, shout under the stars, yet none of that seems to make them forget the past. In this indie rock song, I switch vocal tones and styles, with lyrics that combine tough love and gentleness, hoping they’ll move on from their heartbreak.” “does your boyfriend know?” “The blurring boundaries of friendship and unreadable signals make my heart feel like it’s on a roller coaster. We’re just friends, so why does our physical distance keep shrinking? Spending so much time alone, day and night, doesn’t your boyfriend ever question anything? I want to stick my head out of the window and shout: ‘What exactly are your feelings for me?’ This song and ‘Move On’ were recorded with Shih Wei Huang, the drummer from No Party for Cao Dong, and Hung-li Chen, the bassist from Sunset Rollercoaster, hoping to create a track that represents Asian indie rock.” “Swapping Socks” “This track, a blend of synth-pop and city pop, is a collaboration with Thai musician mindfreakkk. Despite being based in Bangkok and Taipei, we quickly became friends after just a few conversations, so we decided to write a song about friendship. We had a blast shooting the music video together in Bangkok and Kaohsiung. During the album production, I discovered my love for arranging synth basslines. This track’s distinctive synth bass hook was something I came up with while writing the song.” “Not Now” “The lyrics depict a realisation that I can no longer express my longing openly to the other person, perhaps because I’m afraid to face the reality that they can no longer respond to my feelings. The two verses shift from expressing my thoughts to describing what I wish they would say in my imagination, like self-persuasion. Leaving and staying are equally difficult choices. The outro features playful vocal sound design, ending with a sigh that concludes this alternative folk song.”