Fear No More

A-Do

Olivia

Olivia Ong

Music Mantra

Monochrome

A friend who had heard the first plug on the radio wondered why in the world local singer A-Do was singing about denim jeans (niu2 zai3 ku4). Truth is stranger than fiction as he is actually crooning about a Crying Ox (niu2 zai4 ku1).

Anecdote aside, this is a rather puzzling choice for a lead single for the local singer who has been focusing his energies on the China market in recent years.

The inclusion of a Hokkien phrase in the chorus harks back to Stefanie Sun’s Cloudy Day. But whereas the latter’s refrain was a well-known folk ditty, the couplet here, “An ox is being sold for five thousand, want to use five thousand to buy an ox”, is more likely to furrow eyebrows.

Eight years after his debut album was released, A-Do faces a crucial mid-career hurdle. His husky voice is no longer a novelty but a familiar fact and he needs to break new ground in order to remain relevant.

This is something he is well aware of. At the Singapore Entertainment Awards 2010 at The Float@Marina Bay last Saturday, he performed his best known hits He Must Have Really Loved You and Hold On. The thing is, though, they were from his first two albums which came out in 2002.

Unfortunately, Crying Ox sounds like it is trying too hard while the rest of the album does not generate much excitement. Werewolf comes across as gimmicky while The Trail could pass for a theme song from a dated gongfu series.

I Wanna Go Home is one of the rare tracks that evokes some genuine emotion perhaps because it taps into something real for A-Do.

Despite the album title, I am afraid this is not the breakthrough he needs.

While A-Do has been charging ahead in China, Olivia Ong has been jazzing things up in Japan. The local lass made her successful debut there in 2005 with A Girl Meets Bossanova and has now signed with a Taiwanese label better known for its Mandopop acts such as Yoga Lin and S.H.E.

Interestingly, she continues to sing in English even though she had previously recorded Like A Swallow, the Mandarin theme song to the hit MediaCorp series The Little Nyonya.

The self-titled album begins promisingly with You And Me, which was composed by Dick Lee, with lyrics by Ong. The sweet song is the perfect showcase for her breezy and soothing vocals.

Bittersweet, the other original number, feels slight in comparison and is also saddled with clunky lyrics: “Oh, it’s friends we’ll remain till the end of the day/Platonic doesn’t change a thing for me.”

Disappointingly, the rest of the album is an inoffensive selection of songs, including I Feel The Earth Move (no, I didn’t), which is politely rendered and veers dangerously close to muzak territory.

What is offensive is the take on Luka, Suzanne Vega’s classic song about an abused child. Here, it has been inexplicably reworked with an upbeat arrangement. Shudder.

The final local offering this week comes from new group Monochrome. They alternate between Mandarin and English on their album Music Mantra with female vocalist Alia penning most of the Mandarin songs and drummer Darren Karma composing in English.

This band of five musicians certainly have their hearts in the right place. They are behind Heart Rock, a non-profit initiative to reach out to the less fortunate through music.

Some of their youthful energy is captured on the record but it would help if there was greater variety in the music, beyond the rock tunes flavoured with buzzing guitars.

Also, the lyrics tend towards the prosaic and generic, such as on Drop Me A Sign: “So I sit here alone/Thinking back on the times/When you used to be mine/That’s when I started to cry.”

Monochrome’s raw, earnest effort could have done with a splash more colour.

(ST)