What’s Going On…?
Eason Chan
One of Eason's great strengths is his versatility as a vocalist. Unfortunately, that can make for rather scattered albums. Lead single 裙下之臣 'Don't We All Love Dresses' (I think 'Slave to the Dress' would be more to the point) is an ode to women, and, unusually enough, promiscuity. Accordingly, it's one of 2 tracks deleted from the mainland China release. I guess married men in entertainment do get away with double standards.
The heart of the album though, is the two songs 富士山下 and 不如不见. 富士山下 is a lush, gorgeous piece of music, matched with lyrics about a love that's not meant to be, with Mount Fuji looming in the backdrop. It's not an easy song to get a handle on: it's wordy and the lines run into each other with barely a break, but Eason floats along with the words effortlessly, letting 林夕's poetic if sometimes obtuse (then again, it's probably a function of my poor Cantonese) lyrics breathe.
不如不见 has a lovely, wistful melody by 陈小霞, the kind she's so good at writing. 林夕's lyrics didn't seem too promising at first. For some reason, there's this annoying habit of lyricists referencing their own past work, so 十年 is mentioned in the lyrics and in fact, the entire theme seems to be 想哭 redux. And yet, the lyrics and music work together and Eason's quietly affecting delivery is the unexpected sound of heartbreak.
Elsewhere, lyricist extraordinaire 林夕 shows his chops on a track titled Akira Kurosawa. Well, not exactly, the Chinese characters 黑择明 literally mean darkness chooses light. From this pun, 林夕 has fashioned lyrics about life and death infused with imagery of the cinema. Most impressive.