Carmen 2025
Lyrics: Junqing Li (1897-1966)
Original Composer: Georges Bizet (1838-1875)
Vocal, New Composition & Main Production: Adai Song
Press
Illustrate Magazine (USA):
“Adai transforms nostalgia into rebellion, merging history with futurism and creating a delicate and daring soundscape.“
Obscure Sound (USA):
“Carmen 2025 blends modern pop savvy with an evident appreciation for classical composer Georges Bizet.“
Interview
The Lune Collective (USA)
Purple Melon (UK)
(For details of making Carmen 2025, please refer to Writing Sample 1)
Social Media
On Billboard China (Weibo)
Carmen 2025 is a producer-led re-composition of Bizet’s Habanera as a dancefloor-oriented house track that stages exoticism as both sonic material and critique. Operatic melody is re-mapped onto a four-on-the-floor EDM grid, with sub-bass replacing the iconic bass line and East Asian instruments functioning as rhythmic and textural engines rather than ornament.
Guzheng micro-gestures and Peking Opera, Korean junggu, and taiko percussion are spatialized through automation to form a hybrid soundstage. Moving from 1870s opera to 2020s Chinese EDM, the work uses gender-flipped Mandarin lyrics and a virtual ensemble to reclaim authorship and feminist agency.