Genesis

Jeff Chang

The 43-year-old Jeff Chang faces essentially the same challenge with each new album: How can he make himself relevant again?

The Taiwanese singer has no problem filling concert venues on the strength of his past hits such as Don’t Worry About My Sadness and Love Tide. But he has not sounded current since the flirtation with electronica on the album Come Back (1999) – and that was 11 long years ago.

Since 1989, that pristine voice of his has been caressing ballads, his signature genre. The problem is that when the tunes are less than stellar, they easily run the risk of sounding like tired retreads.

White Moonlight (2004), for example, is one of his more moving efforts in recent years. Here, Frosted Sun, in title and tone, merely seems like a vain attempt to recapture that past glory.

The retro vibe of More Than Words is not a good idea, either, as it just ends up sounding dated, while The Power Of Happiness, a duet with local singer Olivia Ong, feels more like an opportunistic tie-up than an essential collaboration.

It is not that there is a dearth of decent material – check out Those Bygone Times and Back Where We Began – but, fairly or not, his releases simply do not generate much excitement now.

Sometimes, it could be something as banal as a matter of image and styling. So thank goodness that ill-advised mop of curls on Escape (2008) is gone so he won’t be scaring away potential fans before they even listen to the CD.

A Wonderful Journey

Ariel Lin

The journey begins promisingly enough with Fall In Love When The Flower Blooms. This likable, summery track doesn’t demand too much of either Taiwan idol drama star Ariel Lin or the listener and it breezes along amiably.

But too much of the scenery that follows is in the same vein, either sweet and disposable or sweet with a tinge of sadness. After a while, it all blends together.

Even though Lin flew out to London for the publicity shots, the follow-up to her debut Blissful Encounter – what is with the hyperbolic titles? – fails to head anywhere interesting.

Super Hot

Fahrenheit

Clad in matchy-matchy black and white ensembles on the oversized album cover, Aaron Yan, Wu Chun, Calvin Chen and Jiro Wang get their sexy on in the Taiwanese boyband’s fourth album.

The title dance track has them going: “Burning hot, if this temperature still makes people lonely/It’s too hot, might as well let us be naked, hot.”

The seduction continues on Sexy Girl: “Sexy girl, promise me, don’t be soft-hearted, please continue to harm me/Sexy girl, save me, without this kind of pain, I don’t think I can live.”

But while the tempo might have quickened, the excitement level for the listener stubbornly refuses to rise.

The sampling of the Minnan ditty Any Beer Bottles To Sell in Going On My Way does not quite work but at least they get some points for trying.

Too bad the other numbers generally leave me cold.

(ST)