In the latter part of last summer, with little fanfare and a feather-light tour schedule that took in a number of cafes and bookstores around town, local singer Weng Yu-chun (
Making music under the name iCat, Weng has honed a surprisingly mature sound in the short space of a debut seven-track mini-album that deftly dodges the music critics' broad categorizations.
PHOTO COURTESY OF TAIWAN COLORS MUSIC
Weng is so hard to pin down musically thanks to her unique blend of computer-composed instrumentation on the album, titled The Mirage in Time (
Laid over the instrumentation, Weng's crystalline voice ties her music together with a huge, almost operatic power -- the kind that, when it hits the high notes in huge, wince-inducing waves, can raise the hair on your neck. With that type of vocal talent, she indulges the temptation to let loose quite regularly, but stops well short of making the music a trite exercise in laying classical vocals over quirky electronic bleeps.
When she mellows out, and it's when she does that her songs reach the greatest depth, iCat sounds not unlike Portishead, as a rueful, washed-up waif, although to see iCat it's apparent that she's anything but that. She actually looks and sounds more like Faye Wong (
"The comparison to Faye Wong is often made, and I guess it's true, I do like her more alternative material and the voice is quite similar," she said when reached by phone Wednesday at the barber, where she was getting a pre-concert trim.
As a visual artist, Weng also employs a battery of visual, multi-media effects for her live shows that measure up to the music itself.
Weng used to perform mostly with session players, but has rounded up a stable group, who will play with her live at The Wall tomorrow. Opening will be Shino (
The Wall is located at B1, Roosevelt Rd, Sec. 4, Taipei (
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