Jay Chou, Mandopop icon, drops his 16th album, Children of the Sun, with cinematic visuals and classic art references.
Jay Chou, a defining icon of the Chinese-language music scene, will release his 16th studio album, Children of the Sun, on March 25th across global digital platforms. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in Mandopop. Chou continues to shape the sound and visual style of Chinese pop music across regions and generations.
The album features 13 tracks, including 12 new songs and a special bonus track titled Christmas Star, created as a gift for fans.
Music Video and Artistic Vision
The title track, also named Children of the Sun, comes with a nearly seven-minute music video. Even before its official release, the project has sparked widespread online discussion. A series of teaser clips has drawn attention for their visual references to well-known works from Western art history.
These include Gustav Klimt’s The Kiss, Edward Hopper’s Nighthawks, Vincent van Gogh’s Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear and Pipe, Jacques-Louis David’s The Death of Marat, and John Everett Millais’ Ophelia. These references deliberately connect contemporary pop music with classical visual culture.
Moreover, the production team filmed the music video in both Paris and Taipei. One key location is the Chapelle Sainte-Jeanne-d’Arc in Paris, which also appears on the album cover. The choice of setting adds a strong visual identity and reinforces the project’s artistic tone.
Chou worked with the New Zealand-based Weta Workshop on the video’s creative direction and visual design. Weta Workshop has worked on major international films and brings a cinematic level of detail to the production. With a reported budget of 20 million RMB, it ranks among the most expensive Chinese-language music videos ever produced.
Production and Release
Children of the Sun will be available worldwide on March 25th. A physical edition for the Chinese mainland market is currently in preparation and will be distributed by Universal Music China.
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