Thanks Your Greatness
Yen-J

This fresh jazzy debut from Los Angeles-born Taiwanese Yen-J sounds different from what is out there, no small achievement given how conformist much of Mandopop is.
Little wonder he was bewildered at first by the scene. Stuck In Taipei recounts his initial frustrations: “From a college student to a wanderer with no job/I feel more and more guilty spending my family’s money... I begin to doubt myself and wonder if I’m doing something wrong?”
He questions in the hip-hop track Saviour: “Didn’t think there would be no one who would be accustomed to my music in Taipei/I can’t catch up with what’s popular... or have I gone ahead of it?”
He makes a good case for the latter. Chasing After opens with the tinkling of ivories and then segues unexpectedly into a tongue-twister of a stanza, followed by a chorus that has fun with word sounds. It’s a heady mix of youthful exuberance but it’s one that works.
On the deliciously playful Love Is Curry, he samples the jazz standard Take The A Train and revs it up with Mandarin, Minnan and English lyrics.
The title track Thanks Your Greatness though reminds me of R&B diva Alicia Keys’ No One. It’s a rare misstep in an album in which even the love songs are sweet rather than saccharine. Smile along as he croons I Like (No, I Love) and Summer Romance.
It is all the more impressive given that the 22-year-old wrote and arranged the material and also played the keyboard parts.This is indeed a great start worth giving thanks for.

No. Eleven
Hins Cheung

There is a modernist feel to Guangzhou-born Hins Cheung’s 11th release. He sports a sculpted, cropped hairdo and dons deconstructed clothing while posing with cut-out shapes of translucent blue and red.
Unfortunately, the same could not be said of the music. While the Cantopop singer shines on ballads such as Zero Degree Celsius, where his delicate vibrato suggests a forlorn man shivering as love grows cold, he is let down by dated arrangements elsewhere. The retro vibe is perfect though for his take on the Paula Tsui classic, Behind The Wedding Gown.
The album has already spawned two chart-toppers – the melancholy Spring Autumn and the sprightly Tea Meditation Song. Which means to say that there will certainly be a No. 12 on the way.
(ST)