Music Picks: Online concerts by Weibird Wei and HK YouTubers, Arrow Wei's new album
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On Aug 19, Taiwanese singer-songwriter Weibird Wei performed an hour-long concert over the WePlay app.
PHOTO: KKBOX SINGAPORE
Weibird Wei Online Concert
On Aug 19, Taiwanese singer-songwriter Weibird Wei performed an hour-long concert over the WePlay app, which allows users to play in-app games. An audio recording of the concert was uploaded onto the app's YouTube page two days later.
Wei was nominated for Best Male Singer (Mandarin) at last month's Golden Melody Awards, but lost to countryman Soft Lipa.
The 34-year-old opened the show with Girl while strumming a guitar. He also sang his hit Wait Slowly, Wolves, and his new single Suddenly, chatted with fans and took song requests.
Although Wei did not appear on video, his trademark soothing voice was in top form.
To listen to the show, go to this website.
Hong Kong YouTubers In Concert
Apart from being able to take beautiful selfies, Hong Kong influencers Stanley Tse, Tszho Wong and Boris Wong are also fairly strong singers.
On July 17, they performed at an in-person concert at Sogno, a venue in Hong Kong's New Territories. A video recording of the performance was uploaded to Boris Wong's YouTube channel on Aug 13.
The concert, which lasted about two hours, featured many cover songs. Tse sang the lion's share of the numbers, including a cover of Taiwanese singer Yoga Lin's Fool, and Rainy Night by Taiwanese indie band Oaeen, formerly known as Sodagreen.
Tszho Wong and Boris Wong both performed songs by Hong Kong singers - Alfred Hui's Youth Anthem and Yoyo Sham's If I Were A Song.
To watch the show, go to this website.
Pop
How Are You?
Arrow Wei
3 stars
3 stars
Despite her expressive voice, androgynous Taiwanese singer-songwriter Arrow Wei has sometimes been seen as a lightweight in the industry.
Her new album, How Are You?, is unlikely to change that perception.
The title track and album opener, a ballad reminiscing about a loved one and wondering how he is doing, is sadly its weakest number. While it is tender and radio-friendly enough, there is nothing fresh in the song's theme or treatment.
The album does recover from its weak opening with more inventive tunes.
The synthesised Hearts Of Stone is intoxicatingly trippy, while How Much I Love You - a duet with Kidding Chiu, the main vocalist of Taipei-based group Bestards - is endearingly sweet.
The Hero's jaunty, staccato beat infuses the song with a bubbly energy, while Tough Generation's rock elements spice up an otherwise bland song reflecting on time's passage.
