GOLDEN MELODY AWARDS NOMINEES
Familiar names make up the nomination list for this year's Golden Melody Awards' Best Female Mandarin Vocalist. In addition to previously reviewed titles from Fish Leong, G.E.M. and Waa Wei, also in the running are Taiwan's Faith Yang for The More Beautiful, The More Invisible; Taiwanese singer-songwriter Peggy Hsu for Hypnocity; and Taiwanese-American singer Joanna Wang for Love Is Calling Me. The winner will be announced on Oct 3.
POP
THE MORE BEAUTIFUL, THE MORE INVISIBLE
Faith Yang
4 Stars
The intriguing mea culpa electropop of Repentance opens Taiwanese singer Faith Yang's (left) seventh studio album. Is that a mischievous wink at her supposedly cold persona? ("So, I should have done my best not to be hated.")
And the album closes with the skittery title track, a rumination on the elusiveness of beauty.
These bookend tracks are composed by Chinese singer-songwriter Guo Ding, who was behind the excellent The Silent Star Stone (2016).
Other A-list collaborators here include Lala Hsu, Hsiao Yu and William Wei. The diversity of talent makes for a work that packs in a lot - from the balladry of Disoriented to the bouncy pop of Body Sing. But it never feels less than cohesive, thanks to Yang's distinctive vocals, which seem more supple with age.
A beautiful record that deserves to be in the spotlight.
POP
HYPNOCITY
Peggy Hsu
3.5 Stars
From Snowman (2009) to Magical Shop (2011), Taiwanese singer-songwriter Peggy Hsu (right) has always been a purveyor of whimsy and fantasy.
This time round, she has conjured Hypnocity (a more direct translation of the Chinese title would be City Of Lost Things), a vaguely European work, judging by the swell of violins and accordion - and one in which death lurks, from titles such as The Dying Swan ("A cursed love/Cannot escape fate") and Death Of A Slate Painter ("Living is not easy/Trapped in the sand"). There is a definite undercurrent of darkness here.
Hsu is perhaps most effective on In The City Without You, "Good Night", in which the melody tenderly evokes the ache of yearning ("My thoughts are all of you/But where are you").
RETRO POP
LOVE IS CALLING ME
Joanna Wang
3.5 Stars
The Taiwanese-American singer's vocals prove to be a perfect fit in these atmospheric remakes of love songs from the 1960s to the 1980s.
Joanna Wang - who made her debut in 2008 with Start From Here - has a smoky voice and sense of playful drama that cast these Mandarin, Cantonese and Japanese chestnuts in a new light.
She is not interested in peddling the songs here simply for their nostalgic value, choosing instead to leave her inimitable stamp on the light and breathy Apple Blossom, the lazy and jazzy Blues In The Rain, and the sultry Forget Him.
One quibble: A wider selection of songs would have been more welcome than the repetition of some numbers in a different language.
GARDENS BY THE BAY AND MEDIACORP NATIONAL DAY CONCERT 2020
This immersive hour-long online concert to celebrate Singapore's 55th birthday is set in Gardens by the Bay.
The line-up features the likes of Nathan Hartono and Inch Chua. There will also be a special rendition of Home by President Halimah Yacob and her husband Mohamed Abdullah Alhabshee, accompanied by JJ Neo, Desmond Tan and Taufik Batisah. WHERE: Channel 5, mewatch.sg and www.youtube.com/mewatch WHEN: Aug 10, 8pm ADMISSION: Free
