Lia Ouyang Rusli

Lia Ouyang Rusli
Also known asOHYUNG
OriginNew York City[1]
Genres
[2]
Occupations
  • Musician
  • composer
  • artist
  • DJ
Labels
Websiteliarus.li

Lia Ouyang Rusli, also known professionally as OHYUNG, is an American composer, musician, and artist.[3] She is known for her work as a composer on films such as Problemista (2023) and Sorry, Baby (2025).[4] She creates electronic and ambient music as the solo project OHYUNG.[2] Rusli released her most recent OHYUNG album, IOWA, on 6 March 2026.[1]

Career

Rusli self-released her debut OHYUNG album, (Untitled) Chinese Man with Flame, on 1 May 2018.[5] It was later re-released in 2020 under the music label Deathbomb Arc.[6] Her sophomore album, PROTECTOR, was released on 8 April 2020 via the music collective and platform Chinabot.[7][8] For her third album, OHYUNG collaborated with drummer Matt Evans to release GODLESS in 2021 with Deathbomb Arc.[9][10] Collectively, these first three albums have been noted for their intensity, political themes, and multi-genre style of hip-hop, electronic, and noise music.[11]

OHYUNG's fourth album, imagine naked!, was released on 22 April 2022 through the label NNA Tapes. The nearly two hour-long album marked a shift from Rusli's earlier work, as it was her first completely ambient release.[11][12] NPR praised imagine naked! and featured it on NPR Music's lists of 50 Best Albums[13] and 11 Best Experimental Albums for 2022.[14] The track "my torn cuticles!" was also named in NPR Music's list of 36 Favorite Songs of 2022 (So Far) in June of that year.[15] The majority of the album's writing and recording was reportedly done over three days. Each track derives its title from a line in the poem "Vegetalscape" by t. tran le, which serves as an artistic accompaniment to imagine naked!.[13][16]

In January 2025 Rusli announced her fifth OHYUNG album, You Are Always On My Mind. The announcement was accompanied by a release of the lead single "no good" along with a music video.[2] The LP was released in the United States via NNA Tapes and in the United Kingdom via Phantom Limb on 28 March 2025, marked by an album release show that same day at Market Hotel in New York City.[17] The more pop music-centered You Are Always On My Mind addresses themes such as gender identity, self-discovery, and the power of rave culture.[18] The album has garnered positive reviews from media outlets such as Pitchfork,[19] PopMatters,[20] and Paste.[21] Writing for Paste, Devon Chodzin described the work as an "unpredictable masterpiece."[21] It was featured in the magazine's list of 50 Best Albums of 2025.[22] Rusli began work on the album in New York City and completed it while living in Iowa City.[23]

During Rusli's 11-month stay in Iowa, from 2023 to 2024, she also worked on her sixth OHYUNG album, IOWA.[23] Released on 6 March 2026 via Trans Music Archive, the experimental album has received positive reviews from PopMatters,[24] Pitchfork,[25] and was featured on the lists 12 New Albums to Stream This Week (from March 2026)[26] and The 50 Best Albums of 2026 So Far[27] from Paste. It is OHYUNG's second ambient album since imagine naked! (2022). IOWA was written as an homage to the Bruce Springsteen album Nebraska (1982), including referential elements of the cover design and album title.[25] Proceeds from IOWA benefited the Iowa Trans Mutual Aid Fund.[28]

Rusli is a transgender woman and cites trans identity as a theme she explores on her album You Are Always On My Mind (2025), describing it as "my trans self and my former self in conversation, from both perspectives."[19][29]

Discography

Studio albums as OHYUNG

  • (Untitled) Chinese Man with Flame (2018)[5][17]
  • PROTECTOR (2020)[17]
  • GODLESS (2021) – with Matt Evans[9]
  • imagine naked! (2022)[17]
  • You Are Always On My Mind (2025)[17]
  • IOWA (2026)[30]

Soundtrack albums / Motion Picture Scores composed

References

  1. 1 2 KLOF (February 10, 2026). "OHYUNG shares "nevada," the haunting second single from IOWA". KLOF Magazine. Archived from the original on June 15, 2026. Retrieved June 15, 2026.
  2. 1 2 3 Teitz, Alex (January 14, 2025). "OHYUNG – You Are Always On My Mind". FEMMUSIC Magazine. Archived from the original on June 15, 2026. Retrieved June 15, 2026.
  3. ↑ Ryan, Chris (January 20, 2026). "OHYUNG Announces New Album 'IOWA' — A Haunting, Tender Love Letter to Place, Trans Survival, and Becoming". AudioFuzz. Archived from the original on January 20, 2026. Retrieved June 15, 2026.
  4. ↑ Hess, Tobias (March 23, 2026). "5 artists proving that New York City's indie scene is thriving". The Fader. Archived from the original on April 14, 2026. Retrieved June 15, 2026.
  5. 1 2 Chu, Li-Wei (May 1, 2019). "Interview: Revisiting OHYUNG's Indomitable Debut Album 'Untitled (Chinese Man with Flame)' One Year Later". From The Intercom. Archived from the original on April 15, 2024. Retrieved June 15, 2026.
  6. ↑ Deathbomb Arc (2020). "DBA241, OHYUNG - (Untitled) Chinese Man with Flame". Deathbomb Arc. Archived from the original on January 30, 2026. Retrieved June 15, 2026.
  7. ↑ Moen, Matt (April 8, 2020). "OHYUNG Channels a 'Bright Rage' on 'PROTECTOR'". Paper. Archived from the original on March 6, 2026. Retrieved June 18, 2026.
  8. ↑ Cho, Tony (April 13, 2019). "CHINABOT, diving into the Asian collective of experimental music". CLOT Magazine. Archived from the original on January 16, 2026. Retrieved June 18, 2026.
  9. 1 2 Kim, Michelle (May 14, 2021). "TORRES, Brooke Eden, SPELLLING: 9 Best New Songs by Queer Artists (Ohyung & Matt Evans: Godless)". Them. Archived from the original on January 3, 2024. Retrieved June 18, 2026.
  10. ↑ Deathbomb Arc (2021). "DBA279, OHYUNG & Matt Evans - GODLESS". Deathbomb Arc. Archived from the original on April 27, 2026. Retrieved June 18, 2026.
  11. 1 2 Tan, Chrysanthe (March 31, 2022). "On imagine naked!, OHYUNG Finds the Emotional Core of Ambient Music". I Care If You Listen. Archived from the original on March 6, 2026. Retrieved June 18, 2026.
  12. ↑ Sawdey, Evan (April 15, 2022). "OHYUNG's Ambient Take on Lockdown Anxiety Is a Masterwork". PopMatters. Archived from the original on December 10, 2025. Retrieved June 18, 2026.
  13. 1 2 NPR Music (December 12, 2022). "The 50 Best Albums Of 2022 (40-31)". NPR Music. Archived from the original on December 23, 2025. Retrieved June 18, 2026.
  14. ↑ Flanagan, Andrew (December 10, 2022). "The 11 Best Experimental Albums of 2022: OHYUNG, imagine naked!". NPR Music. Archived from the original on December 2, 2025. Retrieved June 19, 2026.
  15. ↑ Flanagan, Andrew (June 27, 2022). "NPR Music's 36 Favorite Songs of 2022 (So Far): OHYUNG, "my torn cuticles!"". NPR Music. Archived from the original on May 31, 2026. Retrieved June 19, 2026.
  16. ↑ Major, Michael (February 8, 2022). "OHYUNG Announces New Album 'imagine naked!'". BroadwayWorld. Archived from the original on February 9, 2022. Retrieved June 19, 2026.
  17. 1 2 3 4 5 louderthanwar (January 14, 2025). "OHYUNG Announces Rave Culture Inspired LP, You Are Always On My Mind". Louder Than War. Archived from the original on June 15, 2026. Retrieved June 15, 2026.
  18. ↑ Cooper, Henry (April 2, 2025). "OHYUNG's latest LP is a poignant, avant-garde journey through their transition". Mixmag Asia. Archived from the original on November 7, 2025. Retrieved June 30, 2026.
  19. 1 2 Eleanor, Aly (April 2, 2025). "(Albums) OHYUNG - You Are Always On My Mind". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on March 11, 2026. Retrieved June 30, 2026.
  20. ↑ Miller, Bruce (April 14, 2025). "OHYUNG Finds Pop's Most Delirious Possibilities". PopMatters. Archived from the original on June 18, 2026. Retrieved June 30, 2026.
  21. 1 2 Chodzin, Devon (March 27, 2025). "You Are Always On My Mind is OHYUNG's Slippery Take on Earnest Pop". Paste. Archived from the original on March 6, 2026. Retrieved June 30, 2026.
  22. ↑ Paste Staff (December 1, 2025). "The 50 best albums of 2025". Paste. Archived from the original on May 30, 2026. Retrieved June 30, 2026.
  23. 1 2 Mitchell, Matt (March 6, 2026). "OHYUNG: Explosions in the heartland". Paste. Archived from the original on June 8, 2026. Retrieved June 30, 2026.
  24. ↑ Pontecorvo, Adriane (March 31, 2026). "Ohyung Offers Vivid Heartland Impressions on 'Iowa'". PopMatters. Archived from the original on June 18, 2026. Retrieved June 30, 2026.
  25. 1 2 Geffen, Sasha (March 10, 2026). "(Albums) OHYUNG - IOWA". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on April 3, 2026. Retrieved June 30, 2026.
  26. ↑ Paste staff (March 6, 2026). "12 new albums to stream this week". Paste. Archived from the original on May 29, 2026.
  27. ↑ Paste staff (June 8, 2026). "The 50 best albums of 2026 so far". Paste. Archived from the original on June 24, 2026. Retrieved June 30, 2026.
  28. ↑ Kirn, Peter (February 11, 2026). "OHYUNG's IOWA on Trans Music Archive is as powerful as a glacier". CDM.link. Archived from the original on March 11, 2026. Retrieved June 30, 2026.
  29. ↑ Phillips, Nicola (April 2, 2025). "OHYUNG Navigates Trans Identity in 'You Are Always On My Mind'". KALTBLUT Magazine. Archived from the original on June 15, 2026. Retrieved June 15, 2026.
  30. ↑ Pontecorvo, Adriane (March 31, 2026). "OHYUNG Offers Vivid Heartland Impressions on 'IOWA'". PopMatters. Archived from the original on April 1, 2026. Retrieved June 15, 2026.
  31. ↑ "Test Pattern (2021) - FilmMusic.com". FilmMusic.com. Archived from the original on June 18, 2026. Retrieved June 18, 2026.
  32. ↑ "Bruiser (2023) - FilmMusic.com". FilmMusic.com. Archived from the original on June 18, 2026. Retrieved June 18, 2026.
  33. ↑ Erbland, Kate (August 1, 2024). "'Dreams in Nightmares' Review: A Stunning New Spin on What the American Road Trip Film Can Be". IndieWire. Archived from the original on April 1, 2026. Retrieved June 18, 2026.
  34. ↑ Blexmedia (June 16, 2006). "News Shatara Michelle Ford's Genre-Bending Road Movie 'Dreams in Nightmares' Gets First Trailer Ahead of Summer Theatrical Release". Blex Media. Archived from the original on June 18, 2026. Retrieved June 18, 2026.
  35. ↑ "Problemista (2024) - FilmMusic.com". FilmMusic.com. Archived from the original on June 18, 2026. Retrieved June 18, 2026.
  36. ↑ "Happyend (2024) - FilmMusic.com". FilmMusic.com. Archived from the original on June 18, 2026. Retrieved June 18, 2026.
  37. ↑ "Sorry, Baby (2025) - FilmMusic.com". FilmMusic.com. Archived from the original on June 18, 2026. Retrieved June 18, 2026.
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