After a powerful return to music earlier this year, rising Taiwanese-American singer-songwriter Luke Chiang unveils his new single “what can i do?”, a retro-inspired pop-soul track featuring Filipino-American breakout voices Jesse Barrera and Albert Posis. The track marks the second release from Luke’s much-anticipated debut full-length album, which is currently slated for Q1 2026.
Rooted in a nostalgic groove and carried by rich vocal harmonies, “what can i do?” reflects Luke’s natural evolution as both a vocalist and storyteller. The song wrestles with the quiet tension in a relationship — that feeling when something feels off, even if you can’t quite explain why — but is embraced all the same. As Luke puts it, “It’s about struggling to find the source of unspoken tension in a relationship, but embracing its flaws and all because it’s still your person and you’re a good thing together.“
Luke co-wrote the track with Jesse Barrera and Albert Posis — both celebrated names in the Asian-American music scene. The song’s genesis was spontaneous: “Jesse, Albert & I wrote this song right after working on a folk, singer-songwriter piece with a completely opposite sound direction. From the first few minutes of hearing them develop the chord progression and drums, I knew it was gonna be something I’ve never done before—uptempo, punchy, and soulful,” he says.
“what can i do?” follows the success of Luke’s lead single “terrible4u”, which made an immediate impact on regional streaming platforms, landing on numerous high-visibility playlists and bringing his music to new ears across Southeast Asia and beyond. Since returning from a two-year vocal hiatus, Luke has been steadily reintroducing himself — and fans are listening.
Luke Chiang has always found success on his own terms. With early tracks like “May I Ask”, “Paragraphs”, and “Shouldn’t Be”, Luke quietly cultivated a global audience with his signature blend of R&B, soul, and contemporary pop. Today, he boasts over 2.5 million monthly listeners on Spotify, recently ranking among the top 100 progressive R&B artists globally (Chartmetric). Though his fanbase is worldwide, Luke’s strongest and most passionate audience reside in Southeast Asia, with the region dominating his top audience rankings across platforms: #2 Indonesia, #3 the Philippines, #4 Malaysia, #6 Thailand, #8 Taiwan, and #10 Singapore.
With “what can i do?”, Luke expands his sound while staying rooted in the soulfulness and honesty that earned him a loyal following — all while continuing to amplify the Asian-American voice through introspective pop that resonates widely.
