Pleasure is the fifteenth studio album by Taiwanese singer Jolin Tsai, released on July 25, 2025, by Warner. Centered around the theme of the seven deadly sins, the album explores the multifaceted nature of desire, portraying it as an innate human instinct. It presents pleasure as the culmination that arises from the sublimation of desire.
The album was released in physical format exclusively in Taiwan and ranked as the highest-selling album by a female artist in 2025. In China, it was released only in digital format. As of the end of 2025, cumulative digital sales exceeded 220,000 units, making it the highest-selling digital album by a C-pop female artist that year; As of June 16, 2026, cumulative digital sales have exceeded 333,000 units, with total revenue surpassing RMB 10 million.
The album received the most nominations at the 37th Golden Melody Awards, totaling nine nominations, including Album of the Year, Best Mandarin Album, Best Vocal Recording Album, Song of the Year for "Pleasure", Best Music Arrangement for "DIY", and Best Music Video nominations for both "Pleasure" and "Fish Love". Tsai was also nominated for Best Mandarin Female Singer and Best Album Producer, together with Starr Chen. Ultimately, the album won Album of the Year and Best Vocal Recording Album, while Tsai won Best Mandarin Female Singer.
Background On October 15, 2024, Tsai attended a Balvenie event in Taipei, where she revealed that six tracks for her new album had been recorded and announced plans for its release in the first half of the following year. On December 11, 2024, Tsai attended a Valentino event in Taipei, where she shared her intention to release the new album in the spring of the following year. The album is expected to include 11 tracks. On December 14, 2024, media outlets reported that Tsai is scheduled to release the album in March 2025. In response, Tsai's manager clarified that "the concept for the new album was developed in parallel with that of the upcoming concert tour. The schedule is still being planned, and any confirmed information will be announced in due course."
On April 2, 2025, Tsai attended a MAC event in Shanghai, where she revealed that she had recently traveled to Los Angeles for the photoshoot of her new album cover and music video. She also announced that her new album would be released in May of the same year. When discussing the album's style, Tsai mentioned that both the concept and production choices were bold and something she had never attempted before. "These are things I have always wanted to explore," she stated. "The makeup for this album is also quite different, aligning closely with the character and themes in the lyrics."
Development Since the release of her previous album Ugly Beauty, Tsai developed a profound interest in exploring the possibilities of her own vocal expression, prompting her to deeply contemplate the question, "Where can my voice go?" During the COVID-19 pandemic, she enrolled in online courses at the Berklee College of Music to study recording techniques from the ground up. Equipped with these new skills, she began to write songs independently, channeling her passion for songwriting into a driving force for continual progress.
Throughout the creative process, Tsai collaborated with musicians through songwriting camps in Taipei and Los Angeles, as well as remote online exchanges. Although she is not proficient at playing traditional musical instruments, she gradually recognized her voice itself as a vital creative tool. Beginning with backing vocal arrangements during the demo stage, spontaneous inspiration during recording sessions became central to her songwriting. Tsai took an active role in the creation of each track on the album, overseeing the majority of backing vocal arrangements and recordings. She was fully engaged in the production details, including fine-tuning vocal nuances and structuring layered soundscapes. As the album's musical director, Tsai devoted considerable time and effort, undergoing multiple revisions and adjustments, culminating in her longest production cycle to date.
Writing and recording
The opening track, "Layers", uses the motif of "falling" as an entry point into the subconscious. Through trip-hop and cool-toned electropop arrangements, it creates an ethereal and immersive auditory experience. Co-written by Tsai, Nick Lee, and Ross Golan, the song employs hypnotic lyrics and synthesizer textures to depict the emergence of suppressed desires and the essence of human nature beneath the surface of consciousness, symbolizing the beginning of an inward journey.
"The Divine Comedy: Purgatorio" continues the thematic narrative from the previous track, reinterpreting the medieval Latin chant "O Fortuna" to evoke the atmosphere of purgatorial judgment as portrayed in Dante Alighieri's "Divine Comedy". The symbolic Wheel of Fortune further reinforces the religious allegory and psychological tension woven throughout the piece. Focusing on the seven deadly sins, "Seven" features a melody co-composed by Tsai and Richard Craker, with lyrics penned by Greeny Wu. The song explores forbidden desires and their complex symbolism. Anchored in a dark pop foundation with a dark electro undercurrent, the arrangement combines gothic epic atmospheres with metallic textures, integrating excerpts from "O Fortuna" in both the interlude and outro, creating a seamless conceptual and sonic link to the preceding track.
The album's title track, "Pleasure", delves into the nature of pleasure itself. Drawing inspiration from rave culture, it blends techno and house elements, with a rhythm that oscillates between calm and intensity. Co-written by Tsai alongside multiple collaborators, the song expresses the evolved spiritual state shaped by desire, concluding with the emphatic declaration "That's my pleasure!" as a thematic centerpiece. "Safari" approaches the primal and instinctual, portraying a subconscious hunt as a metaphor for desire. Produced by Ojivolta, the track fuses disco, electropop, and dancehall rhythms to create layered grooves. Tsai utilizes vivid imagery and color to depict raw expressions of desire, emphasizing a body's intuitive response.
Addressing emotional fluctuations and psychological struggles, "Inside Out" incorporates pop funk and city pop influences. Its light rhythm and playful lyricism reflect everyday emotional transformations. The track, co-written by Tsai, The Crane, Razor Chiang, Anders Gukko, and Sandra Wikström, conveys a mode of self-regulation and release through music. "Woman's Work" frames pleasure and desire as acts of dominance and control. With R&B groove and contemporary pop production, it situates female empowerment at the forefront. Written with Jenna Andrews and the Kirk brothers, Tsai's vocal delivery balances restraint and seduction, illustrating a perspective where the rules of pleasure are self-determined. "Pillow" explores dependency and tenderness within intimate relationships. Combining R&B, neo soul, and bedroom pop, and co-written with Josh Cumbee, the arrangement layers deep bass grooves and hazy synthesizers to evoke a nocturnal ambiance, portraying the emotional exchange and flow of desire between lovers.
"DIY" articulates bodily autonomy and sensory sovereignty, emphasizing that pleasure need not rely on external validation. With melody co-written by Tsai, Richard Craker, and Jackson Dimiglio-Wood, and lyrics among the earliest completed for the album, the track merges electropop and trap elements. Its sonic progression builds from inner to outer layers, culminating in tribal rhythms that highlight the release of primal energy. Adopting the lullaby form, "Hush Little Baby" redefines the boundary between tenderness and control. Familiar melodies are transformed under electronic arrangements to evoke a sense of oppression, illustrating emotional bondage and spiritual control enacted under the guise of love. This inversion of the original soothing intent lends the song a potent sense of authority. Co-written with Cheer Chen, "Good Girl" employs a satirical tone to examine autonomy and manipulation in the pursuit of pleasure. The song fuses trap and electropop with an upbeat tempo and bold lyricism. Tsai's playful vocal style interprets the dynamic interplay between desire and power, positioning "I'm so good" as an anthem of empowered self-expression.
Inspired by Abraham J. Twerski's theory, "Fish Love" contemplates the boundaries between love and possession. Presented in an alternative pop style and co-written with Riley Biederer and Mattheos Herbert Weedon, the song's near-confessional delivery expresses the shame and yearning born from emotional imbalance. Closing the album, "Bloody Mary" expresses a detached attitude toward worldly measures of happiness, rejecting fame and fortune as standards for joy. Written in collaboration with Choice37 and the YG Entertainment team, it combines funk pop with hip-hop rhythms. The bright arrangement supports Tsai's crisp vocals, which convey a resolute stance on self-determination. The track encapsulates the album's overarching theme: when desires are honestly embraced, true pleasure can emerge, and "only by living authentically can one exit the race."
Title and theme
The album takes the seven deadly sins as its thematic foundation, delving deeply into the origins and multifaceted nature of desire within both consciousness and the subconscious. It conveys the central idea that "desire is not a sin". Desire is an innate human instinct, while pleasure represents the reward and culmination that arise from the sublimation of desire. However, beneath pleasure lie complex human conditions such as pain, guilt, anxiety, and vulnerability.
In 2022, Tsai began to focus on the concept of pleasure after watching a documentary, which prompted her to reflect on her own understanding of the nature of pleasure. She candidly admitted that she had never truly paused to consider "what do I like", and she recognized that societal definitions of "needs" are often laden with prejudice—frequently dismissing deep-seated desires and devaluing superficial pleasures, thereby rendering pleasure a taboo topic. Through this album, she aims to openly confront personal desires while challenging the collective subconscious repression of desire.
Tsai was also inspired by Alain de Botton's reinterpretation of the seven deadly sins within everyday contexts. For instance, he frames pride as a yearning for a sense of existence and understands anger as an emotional response to misunderstood pain. These perspectives not only sparked her interest in the seven deadly sins but also encouraged her to reevaluate her own connection to these human conditions. She believes that so-called sins are manifestations of human vulnerability, and when we bravely face and accept them, pleasure can emerge.
Artwork and packaging The album was released in two versions: "Garden of Sins" and "Rebirth of Pleasure", visually exploring the dual themes of sin and desire. Creative direction for both versions was led by The Squared Division, with packaging design by Special Offer, Inc.
The "Garden of Sins" version draws inspiration from medieval spell books, interweaving elements of ancient legends and mythology. It features seven distinct covers, each symbolizing one of the seven deadly sins, portraying the dark facets of human nature and the forbidden allure of transgression. The visual concept was directed by Korean photographer Cho Gi-seok, who artfully incorporated symbols of temptation such as apples and roses to evoke the hidden, enchanted ambiance of a medieval garden.