Bespectacled singer/songwriter Khalil Fong (方大同) returns to the pop forefront with his fifth original album, 15, which alludes to the age when he started learning to play guitar.
Fong wrote and produced all 11 tracks on the guitar-driven new album, which sees his bewitchingly groovy R ’n’ B sound married with a newly bolstered pop sensitivity.
Fong flaunts his virtuosic musicianship in a genre-blending effort in the year’s most eye-opening pop experience so far. He blends movie orchestra with punk in the opening track, Gonna Make a Change, coalesces hip-hop with gospel in Blossom in Flash (曇花), makes a nod to folk in Friends Without Mushrooms (無菇朋友), flirts with big band jazz in Over, and sinks his teeth into rock with Take Me.
With the second single Not So Easy (好不容易), Fong has upstaged his 2007 breakthrough hit Love Song by delivering an instant classic. Backed by a 60-piece orchestra, the wedding-themed track evokes old school funk while offering a spine-tingling hook.
Not your run-of-the-mill pop star, Fong has also expanded his lyrical themes beyond the usual romantic musings and into deeper contemplation, with topics including environmental protection, anti-drug messages, self realization and justice.
The soulful crooner’s collaboration with Hong Kong indie rapper Ghost Style results in the gritty anthem Chang Yong Cheng (張永成) whereas the pairing of Fong and Hsu Chia-ying (徐佳瑩, aka Lala) resulted in the light-hearted romantic romper Self Assumption (自以為).
With 15 this 27-year-old Stevie Wonder-like crooner has rediscovered his pop instinct. Fans will be hard-pressed to find a more gratifying R ’n’ B album this year.
Aboriginal collective Wild Fire Music (野火樂集) has served as a platform for Aboriginal music and singers since its inception in 2000. It released folk icon Kimbo Hu’s (胡德夫) first album In A Flash (匆匆) in 2005 and has showcased fresh Aboriginal talent including Suming (舒米恩) and Leo Chen (陳永龍) on its more recent annual compilations.
With Beautiful Haiyan — On the Way (美麗心民謠出發), the third compilation in the series, the label has shifted from cultural preservation to updating Aboriginal folk classics for younger audiences.
The album declares its ambition by offering two different takes on Difang’s (郭英男) classic Elder’s Drinking Song (老人飲酒歌), which became well-known to the Western audiences when it was sampled by German new age group Enigma in its 1994 smash single Return to Innocence.
Performed by the Malan Chanters (馬蘭吟唱隊), the traditional version presents the classic against a sparse backdrop, preserving its original flavor. The modern version, arranged by producer Cheng Chieh-jen (鄭捷任) and label singer Gelresai (陳世川), starts out with a simple guitar chord and then builds into a lounge-inspired gem featuring suavely layered vocals that are backed by pulsating drums and cascading guitar riffs.
Two of the label’s up-and-coming singers are featured prominently. Chen pushes his love prince persona further with the romantic ode Love in Lanyu (蘭嶼之戀), while Gelresai puts his urban folk singer twist on the Aboriginal sound with Come to My Home (來我家).
Apart from saluting the earth, flirtation figures heavily as recurring theme. In tracks such as Welcome to Dance (歡迎來跳舞) and What’s Your Name? (請問芳名), the album celebrates the Aboriginal spirit for embracing romantic overtures.
Another genre-crossing highlight is Fragrant Flower (花好香), which juxtaposes Chen’s warm vocals with a throbbing electronica beat.
If you want to discover how time-honored Aboriginal music can speak to our modern sensitivities, look no further than this envelope-pushing album.
Taiwan pop/rock band F.I.R. (飛兒樂團) sails in quest of the unknown again in its sixth studio album. Excelling in orchestra-driven baroque rock, the group sagely chooses the lost civilization first mentioned by Plato as a metaphor for musical never-never land in its latest album.
Chapter VI — Atlantis (第六章：亞特蘭提斯) features 10 tracks culled from nearly a hundred songs they’ve written over the past year.
The emblematic track is the principal single Atlantis (亞特蘭提斯), which explores the theme of rediscovering hidden treasure in one’s heart. In this fast-tempo rock number that merges Irish folk with Brit-flavored rock, lead singer Faye’s (飛) soaring vocals glide among explosive guitars and rolling drums. The other highlight is Don Quixote (唐吉訶德), one of the group’s rare explosive rock attempts, which extols the man of La Mancha’s courage to trudge ahead despite hardship.
Elsewhere, the album retreats to hackneyed pop ballads that could easily be mistaken for tear-jerking romantic confections by pop idols. The second single Let Love Be Reborn’s (讓愛重生) sorrowful melody is a tribute to Korean drama theme songs, while the third single, Glittering Tear Droplets (淚光閃爍), is a piano-driven ballad that advocates the virtues of love, even in the face of heartbreak.
This latest outing continues to offer F.I.R.’s trademark uplifting messages of hope, courage and forgiveness. However, the album becomes tiresome with so many empowering themes. It would have been good to have included some moments that inspect the darker sides of life.
Faye, despite her obvious charisma, has a squeaky clean quality to her voice that makes any edgier emotion difficult. Anguish and anxiety are almost beyond the group’s emotional vocabulary.
F.I.R. is not everyone’s cup of tea. Discerning pop connoisseurs might be turned off by the group’s wholesale optimism and contrived melodies. Hardcore fans, however, will appreciate the group’s continued effort to bring forth easy-to-digest rock and extravagant images.
Emerging band Red Flower (紅花樂團) straddles the murky line between pop and indie band. With Sense of Security (安全感), the group delivers a confident debut that showcases its eclectic music influences and explores post-adolescent anxiety. Written mostly by frontman Hsiao B (小B), the 11 tracks display the group’s affection for edgy British rock and the band’s unmistakable penchant for catchy pop.
The first two singles aim to establish Red Flower’s reputation for synth-enhanced electronica rock. The edgy lead single Dark Dream (黑夢) explores the theme of nightmarish anxiety in a gem that blends a tingling guitar riff with gyrating synth beats. Sense of Security (安全感) serves another dose of uncertainty, with Hsiao B’s vocals pitched against layered guitar chords.
The lead singer has a tender, delicate vocal quality that works best when either played against the group’s textured walls of sound rock, or delivering melody-driven ballads.
Two tracks have become TV drama theme songs. Love Second Time Around (第二回合我愛你) makes a nod to 1980s happy-go-lucky rock, while Pillow Talk (悄悄話) veers into atmospheric slow rock redolent of Coldplay.
Another highlight is Moonlight (月光), a nostalgia-drenched, Chinese-flavored R ’n’ B ballad that recalls the Chinese-style East Wind Breaks (東風破) by Jay Chou (周杰倫).
A whopping half of the album is devoted to slow-tempo ballads. As a descendant of the pop-besotted Mayday (五月天), Red Flower wears its fondness for rock ballad proudly on its sleeve and gleefully celebrates melodic pop by including rolling rock chords and synthesizer.
Pop audiences who usually find indie bands’ hard-etched sounds a little too difficult will savor this pop-meets-rock album from an emerging band.
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