The term was first used to describe the singer Faye Wong and her main influences: the British band the Cocteau Twins and the Irish band the Cranberries. It has become a defining feature of Taiwan because of the singers that have emerged here since the mid-1990s, including Faith Yang, Huang Hsiao-chen, Tanya Tsai, Yeh Shu-yin, Patricia Ho, Sandee Chen, Cheer Chen and Zhang Xuan.
這個名詞，最早用來指稱歌手王菲，以及她所仿效的英國樂團 Cocteau Twins 與愛爾蘭樂團 Cranberries 的風格，如今卻宛如台灣特產，指涉的歌手自 90 年代中期以降，包括楊乃文、黃小禎、蔡健雅、葉樹茵、何欣穗、陳珊妮、陳綺貞，以及當紅的張懸等人。