In the crowded landscape of Hong Kong’s independent music scene, where cultural crosscurrents meet the pressures of urban life, few bands have managed to carve out a space as distinctive and contemplative as Besides. Their latest offering, the aptly named “Breakfast” EP, arrives at a pivotal moment in the city’s musical evolution—a time when local artists are increasingly finding their unique voice amid global influences. As a collection, it represents not merely a set of songs but a thoughtful meditation on routine, connection, and the quiet moments that define our daily existence.
Setting the Table: Context and Arrival
Besides emerged from Hong Kong’s underground scene in the late 2010s, initially drawing modest attention with their self-released singles that showcased an intriguing blend of dream pop atmospherics and math rock precision. What separated them from their contemporaries was their reluctance to follow the more commercially viable Cantopop formulas or the harder-edged alternative sounds that dominated much of the city’s indie landscape. Instead, they pursued a more nuanced approach—creating spacious, contemplative compositions that rewarded close listening.
“Breakfast,” their fourth extended play, arrives after a two-year silence that had some wondering whether the quartet had joined the unfortunate roster of promising local acts that disappear before reaching their full potential. The Hong Kong music ecosystem, always challenging to navigate with its limited venues and commercial pressures, has become even more difficult in recent years. Against this backdrop, the arrival of new material from Besides feels particularly significant—a testament to artistic resilience and creative commitment.
The Sonic Palette: Musicality and Production
The EP opens with its title track, “Breakfast,” which establishes both the thematic focus and sonic template for what follows. A gentle, arpeggiated guitar figure emerges from ambient morning sounds—the clink of cutlery, the hiss of a kettle—before the full band gradually enters. The production, handled by local wunderkind producer Alvin Wong, demonstrates remarkable restraint. Each element occupies its own space in the mix, creating a soundscape that feels simultaneously intimate and expansive.
Lead vocalist Sarah Cheung’s delivery has evolved considerably since the band’s earlier releases. Where she once seemed to hide behind layers of reverb, she now positions her voice front and center, bringing newfound clarity to lyrics that deserve such prominence. “Steam rises between us / Words don’t,” she intones in the opening track, establishing the EP’s preoccupation with communication, connection, and the silences that often say more than words.
The instrumental interplay throughout “Breakfast” reveals a band that has spent considerable time refining their chemistry. Drummer Jason Leung provides rhythmic foundations that avoid obvious patterns, instead offering subtle accents that complement guitarist Michael Wong’s intricate figures. Bassist Clara Yip provides melodic counterpoints rather than mere harmonic support, her lines often carrying secondary melodies that reward repeated listening.
“Morning Light,” the EP’s second track and clear standout, represents Besides at their most fully realized. Beginning with a plaintive piano figure that wouldn’t sound out of place on a Talk Talk record, the song gradually builds to incorporate strings and ultimately a full-band crescendo that feels earned rather than formulaic. Cheung’s lyrics explore the liminal space between night and day, sleep and wakefulness, togetherness and separation. “Dawn filters through blinds / Casting stripes across your sleeping face / This silent language more honest than words,” she sings, capturing the EP’s central theme of finding meaning in quiet, often overlooked moments.
Thematic Resonance: Breakfast as Metaphor
What prevents “Breakfast” from becoming merely another competent indie rock release is its conceptual coherence. The morning meal serves as both literal subject matter and rich metaphor throughout the EP’s six tracks. In “Toast and Jam,” the preparation of food becomes a stand-in for the routines that both comfort and constrain us. “Cereal Bowl” examines childhood memories through the lens of morning rituals, while “Coffee Break” explores workplace connections that form around shared moments of caffeinated respite.
Though the middle section occasionally meanders—”Toast and Jam” in particular feels somewhat underdeveloped compared to the stronger bookends—the thematic throughline provides cohesion even when individual songs might falter. There’s something refreshingly unpretentious about using something as mundane as breakfast as an organizing principle. In less capable hands, such a concept might feel gimmicky, but Besides approaches it with genuine curiosity and depth.
This focus on everyday rituals carries particular resonance in Hong Kong, a city where frenetic pace often leaves little room for reflection. The morning meal—whether a traditional congee, a Western-style egg sandwich from a cha chaan teng, or a hurried coffee on the MTR—represents one of the few moments of pause in a notoriously non-stop urban environment. Besides seems to suggest that these brief interludes contain overlooked profundity, a message that resonates beyond mere musical appreciation.
Cultural Positioning: Between Local and Global
One of the most intriguing aspects of Besides’ work is how they navigate the complex intersection of local and global influences. Singing primarily in English (with occasional Cantonese phrases woven throughout), they position themselves somewhat apart from Hong Kong’s more linguistically local indie acts. Yet their sensibilities remain unmistakably rooted in the city’s unique cultural landscape.
The delicate melancholy that permeates “Breakfast” draws from a distinctly Hong Kong emotional palette—a certain wistfulness that can be traced through the city’s cinema, literature, and music. This quality, sometimes described as “晚風悵” (a melancholy breeze at dusk), manifests in Besides’ music through minor-key progressions and lyrics that find beauty in transience.
Simultaneously, their sonic references extend globally. Echoes of Radiohead’s more atmospheric moments can be heard in the textural approach of “Cereal Bowl.” The math-rock influences of Japanese bands like toe and LITE emerge in the rhythmic complexity of “Coffee Break.” American indie bands like The National seem to inform the EP’s production choices, particularly in how the drums are captured with room sound intact, creating a sense of physical space.
What’s remarkable is how seamlessly these influences are integrated. Unlike some Hong Kong indie acts that can feel like they’re simply imitating Western or Japanese templates, Besides has digested their influences and created something that, while acknowledging its antecedents, stands as its own artistic statement.
Technical Execution: The Craft Behind the Art
From a purely technical standpoint, “Breakfast” represents a significant leap forward for Besides. The recording quality far surpasses their earlier, more lo-fi releases, without sacrificing the warmth and immediacy that made those recordings charming. Engineer Thomas Chan deserves particular credit for capturing performances that feel both precise and organic—no small feat given the band’s intricate arrangements.
Michael Wong’s guitar work demonstrates remarkable restraint throughout. Rather than indulging in technical showmanship (though his capabilities are evident), he focuses on creating textural beds that serve the songs. His use of extended techniques—gentle harmonics, volume swells, subtle use of e-bow—creates sonic landscapes that complement Cheung’s vocals rather than competing with them.
The rhythm section of Leung and Yip provides the EP’s beating heart. Their approach prioritizes musicality over technical flash, with Leung in particular showing remarkable sensitivity in his dynamic control. From the whisper-quiet brushwork in “Morning Light” to the more forceful patterns in “Sunday Brunch,” his playing remains consistently tasteful and appropriate.
Arrangement choices throughout “Breakfast” reveal a band thinking carefully about sonic architecture. The gradual introduction of strings in “Morning Light” and “Sunday Brunch” feels organic rather than tacked-on. The brass section that appears unexpectedly in the latter creates one of the EP’s most transcendent moments—a sunburst of sound that feels like the musical equivalent of light breaking through clouds.
Contextual Significance: Beyond Mere Music
“Breakfast” arrives at a critical juncture for Hong Kong’s independent music community. As the city navigates complex social and political realities, its cultural expressions take on additional layers of meaning. While Besides avoids explicit political commentary, there’s something quietly radical about creating thoughtful, artistically ambitious music in a climate where commercial considerations often dominate.
The band’s focus on small, intimate moments feels particularly relevant in a time when many Hong Kong residents find themselves reevaluating their relationship with the city and its future. The emphasis on finding meaning in routine and connection speaks to universal human experiences while also reflecting specific local conditions.
Within Hong Kong’s music ecosystem, Besides occupies an important middle ground between more accessible pop-leaning indie acts like Soler or Dear Jane and the experimental fringes represented by groups like Blood Wine or Honey. By balancing melodic accessibility with artistic ambition, they help bridge different segments of the local audience while also creating music that could potentially resonate with listeners beyond the city’s borders.
Culmination: “Sunday Brunch” as Artistic Statement
The EP concludes with its most ambitious composition, “Sunday Brunch,” a six-minute epic that encapsulates everything Besides does well. Beginning with sparse piano and Cheung’s most vulnerable vocal performance, it gradually incorporates additional elements—strings, horns, the full band—building to a cathartic conclusion that feels both surprising and inevitable.
Lyrically, the song explores the bittersweet quality of weekend gatherings—moments of connection that highlight both the presence and absence of deeper understanding between people. “We pass dishes, pass time, pass in silence / Words we might have said floating above the table,” Cheung sings, capturing the peculiar mix of intimacy and distance that can characterize even our closest relationships.
The song’s final minutes, where vocals give way to an instrumental section that grows increasingly intense before resolving into a gentle coda, provide the EP’s emotional climax. It’s a remarkable piece of composition and performance—patient in its development, powerful in its impact, and poignant in its resolution.
Conclusion: A Significant Addition to Hong Kong’s Musical Landscape
“Breakfast” may not dramatically reinvent Hong Kong’s indie sound, but it doesn’t need to. What Besides offers instead is a refinement and deepening of an artistic vision that was already compelling in its earlier iterations. The EP showcases a band growing in confidence and capability, willing to take risks while maintaining the core elements that make their music distinctive.
For longtime followers of Hong Kong’s independent music evolution, “Breakfast” will feel like a natural and welcome progression. For newcomers, it serves as an excellent entry point into a scene that continues to produce some of Asia’s most interesting music, despite operating with far less infrastructure than counterparts in Seoul, Tokyo, or Taipei.
In its thoughtful execution and consistent vision, “Breakfast” confirms Besides as a band worth following closely as Hong Kong’s musical identity continues to evolve in fascinating and unpredictable ways. Like the morning meal it’s named after, the EP offers nourishment and satisfaction while setting the tone for what follows—in this case, what will hopefully be a long and rewarding artistic journey for both the band and their growing audience.