Chinese American Bear’s new single ‘Mama’ is the comfort food your ears needed

There’s a moment in a lot of Chinese households — maybe you know it, maybe you’ve heard it through a friend’s front door — where a voice carries through the whole house: “chi fan le”. It’s time to eat. Drop everything. Don’t be late.

That phrase is the beating heart of Chinese American Bear’s gorgeous new single Mama (妈妈), and honestly? It hits different.

The Seattle-based duo of Anne Tong and Bryce Barsten dropped the track, and it’s the kind of song that wraps around you like the smell of a home-cooked meal you haven’t had in years. Nostalgic, warmly textured, and deeply personal — Mama draws straight from Tong’s childhood family dinners, the kind of everyday ritual that doesn’t feel significant until you’re grown and suddenly really missing it.

Anne puts it best herself: “Every Chinese kid knows that Chinese moms hate it when you’re late to the meal table, so you better run the first time ‘chi fan le’ is yelled.” And Bryce — the non-Chinese half of the duo — recalls learning that phrase as one of his first windows into Anne’s culture and family world. That detail alone is kind of beautiful.

Mama is the third taste of their upcoming album ‘Dim Sum & Then Some’ — following earlier singles No No Yeah Yeah (不不好啊好啊) and All The People (所有人) — and it’s shaping up to be one of the most exciting indie pop records of the year. Due out 8th May via Moshi Moshi Records, the album promises a fuller, more exploratory sound than their acclaimed 2024 record ’Wah!!!’ — think warbling guitars, psychedelic textures, disco shimmer, strings, and synth-driven electronics, all filtered through the duo’s signature lighthearted, bilingual Mandarin/English lens.

Influences? We’re talking MGMT meets The Flaming Lips with Tong’s classical piano roots and a genuine love for pure pop maximalism. It’s a collision that shouldn’t work as well as it does — and yet here we are, completely obsessed.

Tracklist for ‘Dim Sum & Then Some’:
1. Intro (开场白)
2. All The People (所有人)
3. No No Yeah Yeah (不不好啊好啊)
4. I Wanna Go Home (我想回家)
5. Turn Up The Radio (把收音机开大点)
6. Chant (Namo Amituofo)
7. Mama (妈妈)
8. Lovely Day (美好的一天)
9. Land of Fun (好玩的地方)
10. Forever Lover (永远的爱人)
11. Chinese American Bear Anthem (华裔美国熊之歌)

And if the music alone isn’t enough to get you hyped, the band have just dropped a massive run of European and North American tour dates spanning May through July. Highlights include The Great Escape (Brighton), London Calling (Amsterdam), Kantine am Berghain in Berlin, New York’s Bowery Ballroom, and a homecoming show at Seattle’s Neumos. This is a band you absolutely need to see live.

LIVE DATES

Europe — May

14 May — Brighton, UK — The Great Escape Festival
15 May — Amsterdam, NL — London Calling Festival
17 May — Berlin, DE — Kantine Am Berghain
19 May — Oxford, UK — Jericho Tavern
20 May — Sheffield, UK — Yellow Arch
21 May — Margate, UK — Where Else?
22 May — Kingston, UK — Banquet Records
23 May — Bristol, UK — Dot To Dot Festival
24 May — Nottingham, UK — Dot To Dot Festival

North America — June
16 June — Washington, DC — Pie Shop
17 June — Philadelphia, PA — PhilaMOCA
20 June — Boston, MA — Red Room @ Cafe 939
21 June — New York, NY — Bowery Ballroom
23 June — Toronto, ON — Baby G
25 June — Chicago, IL — Subterranean
26 June — Minneapolis, MN — Cloudland Theater

North America — July
11 July — Spokane, WA — BID Festival
14 July — Phoenix, AZ — Rebel Lounge
16 July — Los Angeles, CA — The Echo
19 July — San Francisco, CA — The Independent
21 July — Boise, ID — Shrine Social Club
23 July — Portland, OR — Polaris Hall
24 July — Vancouver, BC — Fox Cabaret
25 July — Seattle, WA — Neumos

Stream Mama (妈妈) here and mark your calendars — ‘Dim Sum & Then Some’ drops 8th May. The table is set. Don’t be late.

Follow Chinese American Bear: Website | Instagram | YouTube | Facebook | Bandcamp

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