Ballad songstress reborn as songwriter

Mando-pop songstress Maggie Chiang (江美琪) wants to prove she can do more than tug at your heartstrings with her voice; she can write her own songs too.

Chiang, whose full-length albums include 2006’s Cry Baby (愛哭鬼), is releasing My Room (房間), her 10th album and first to comprise all self-penned material. The pop siren performed a sold-out concert at Legacy Taipei (傳音樂展演空間) on May 25 and will play a six-song set at Taipei gay club G-Star at midnight on June 8.

“I want my music to be warm and uplifting,” the graceful singer told the Taipei Times. “I want the audience members to relive their emotional memories through me.”

Now aged 31 and dubbed a “therapeutic singer” (療傷系歌手) by the Chinese-language media because of her poignant delivery of heartfelt ballads, Chiang achieved stardom based on her entrancing renditions of hits such as How I Envy You (我多麼羨慕你), the theme song to the blockbuster TV period drama April Rhapsody (人間四月天), and He Must Really Love You (他一定很愛你).

Chiang did not muster up the courage to write her own songs until signing with her current label XY Music. She used her iPhone to record snippets of melodies that came to her, and then patched together the nine tracks on the album.

“I mostly hum tones when I am comfy and relaxed in my room,” she said. “There were a few times when riveting melodies hit me halfway through a shower, so I simply rushed out to get my phone and recorded them.”

Musically, My Room is Chiang’s most personal journey to date. Set against a heart-warming backdrop of swirling violin and piano, the title track pays tribute to the memory of her older brother, who passed away from cancer two years ago. Also on the album, Perfect Breakup (完美分手), the latest addition to her long string of contagious romantic odes, recounts her decision to bid a graceful adieu to a former beau.

“I told him that love had vanished, and I simply packed up and left that night,” she said.