“Out into society” is a common phrase in Taiwan used to describe the challenging and transformative period of recent graduates entering the workforce. For June Pan, a twenty-something pursuing a fast-paced career in finance, it’s particularly true. “It’s very challenging work. I keep learning new things. So when I was writing ‘Everyday is a battle’, I took inspiration from my daily life, and a lot of it is about growth,” she tells Apple Music. “The song ‘Tell me bae’ says it all. ‘I can build a ritual in life all by myself’—it’s the passage from ‘make a living’ to ‘living life’.”
A self-styled ‘city girl’, June cut her musical teeth with busking, performing small sets, and collaborating with local musicians. But it wasn’t until she met Lee Yung-En, producer and guitarist for indie band Hello Nico, that she fully articulated her brand of soulful, romantic electro-pop. “When I first started, I was doing covers with MIDI and a bit of acoustic guitar. When Yung-En came around, I had a sudden revelation about how you could play with sounds and tones.” The result is Everyday is a battle, an airy and stylish collection of bittersweet songs about adult life that recalls the sound of English electronic music duo Honne. Highlights include “Lingering Night”, an upbeat and thoroughly danceable track subverted by Pan’s descriptions of loneliness and insecurity, “Horror Love”, a visceral look into the degradation of a once loving relationship, and the intimate “Even If”, an ode to self-love that casts the singer in refreshingly pure acoustic shades.