Taiwan Mandopop star Jay Chou returns with ambitious new album

Taiwan Mandopop star Jay Chou will release his first album in nearly four years this week, unveiling on Tuesday its lead single accompanied by a music video in which he battles a vampire.

Chou's signature fusion of Western R&B and hip-hop with distinctly Taiwanese and Chinese influences has earned him a devoted, at times obsessive, following across Asia - particularly in China - since his 2000 debut, "Jay".

His new album, "Children of the Sun," is his 16th studio release and features 13 tracks. The digital version arrives on Wednesday, with a physical edition to follow in April.

The video for the title track, almost seven minutes long and filmed in both Taipei and Paris, shows him battling a vampire in a church, whom he ultimately kills by driving a giant cross through its heart.

Chou told fans and reporters in Taipei that he hoped to send "positive energy" with the lead single, recalling earlier occasions of stage fright before concerts.

"There is a dark side in everyone's heart; how to control it, live in peace with it or to destroy it," he said.

While Taiwan has only 23 million people, its music scene has an outsized influence in the Chinese-speaking world, in part due to a creative environment unconstrained by censorship.

Raised in suburban Taipei by his mother, Chou failed his college entrance exam and once considered becoming a piano teacher.

He was discovered by a TV host at a singing competition, though he started his career by writing songs for other performers. Unusually in the Mandopop industry, he writes much of his own material.

Chou is also an actor, appearing in Chinese language films as well as the 2010 Hollywood movie version of "The Green Hornet" in which he played Kato, sidekick to the vigilante crime fighter played by comedian Seth Rogen.

-Reporting by Angie Teo and Ann Wang; Writing by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Louise Heavens/Reuters