Change?

Derrick Hoh

On his second album, local singer Derrick Hoh gets an image makeover – and ends up looking like a castaway from the reality series Survivor.

Gone is the dapper boy-next-door look of his debut, Unclassified, though there isn’t a radical shift in terms of the music content. It is more of a tweak from dance-pop to pop-rock.

The best tracks here are actually two covers as Hoh has done something interesting with them.

Acceptance takes the chorus of Aaron Kwok’s When I Know That You’re In Love and builds a new song around it by adding catchy new stanzas. It is also a smart choice given that it is not hard to improve on Kwok’s Mandarin diction.

The other remake is of Unworthy, originally performed by the now-defunct local group Dreamz FM. Hoh ditches the dreamy lyricism of the original and goes for a hip urban vibe, complete with a rap written by him.

Change for the sake of changing is often unnecessary, but when it comes to remakes, thoughtful reinvention is absolutely required.

Loaded

Phil Lam

Sony Music Entertainment Hong Kong

It seems that Hong Kong singer-songwriter Phil Lam wants to be the next Jay Chou. He has even roped in the latter’s lyric partner Vincent Fang on the opening R&B track, Rain Falls Onto The Earth.

This maiden EP actually reminds me of another Hong Kong artist, though – soulboy Khalil Fong.

The impression is so strong on Writing Poems that it is a good thing that vocally, Lam does not sound like Fong. Otherwise, it would simply come across as mere emulation.

Still, this is an offering that showcases Lam’s songwriting skills as well as his ability to deliver both Mandarin and Cantonese numbers. A debut loaded with promise.

The First Stop In The Future

Lin Yu-chun

This is You- Tube sensation Lin Yu-chun’s second album in a little more than a month.

If that is not cashing in on his overnight fame, I don’t know what is.

Admittedly, the record is slightly more bearable than the Taiwanese singer’s album of English covers but I Will Always Love You and Amazing Grace appear here again.

The tracks It’s My Time and Under Your Wings are also repeats, though with Mandarin lyrics this time around.

Lin also takes on Lin Fan’s Living Alone and Shunza’s Stars and it just feels like one showboating vocal exercise after another as he scales the octaves.

If this is the future, I would rather be stuck in the past.

(ST)