She Says

JJ Lin

Next

Lizz

Return To Base

Various artists

In the poster for homeboy JJ Lin’s upcoming concert here, he is all rippling, glistening muscle. On his new album, however, the singer-songwriter shows us his softer side by covering the works of female singers.

If there is one trend I want to see come to an end, it is male singers covering women’s songs.

But in this case, there is some justification for the project as Lin had composed all of the music.

So we get Cyndi Wang’s Whenever and A-mei’s Remember sensitively handled by Lin.

It would have been nice, though, to see a greater degree of reinterpretation and rearrangement especially since he had written these numbers.

The selection here is also overwhelmingly tilted towards ballads and the absence of Lin’s catchy, urban tracks is felt.

Perhaps the inspiration for this album was sparked by a medley of women’s songs, including Tanya Chua’s Projectile and Cheer Chen’s Sun, which he did at the Golden Melody Awards in June. Somehow, sadly, the album does not quite capture the electrifying feel of that live performance.

Also included are three new songs, including the title track She Says, which has wistful lyrics by Stefanie Sun about a love that was not meant to be: “Couldn’t wait till night, the petals don’t dare to drop/Green leaves are following, releasing the taste of pain”.

Apart from Lin keeping the flag flying in a low-key year for the local music scene, there are also newer artists putting material out there.

There is Lizz, or Liang Liyi, sporting an Afro hairdo on her new EP Next and indie groups Redpoll, Elyzia and ah5ive banding together on the compilation album Return To Base.

Next has one Mandarin number and three English tracks, of which Insanity Mind and Maybe are original songs penned by her.

Insanity Mind is a pop-rock number about an abusive relationship while Maybe slows things down to contemplate a love that has ended.

The sultry I Want Your Love and the jazzy Like A Virgin – yes, originally by Madonna – are fun but the resulting EP is pulled in too many directions to make a coherent impression.

While Return To Base features three different bands, there is the same lo-fi indie aesthetic that colours the sound throughout.

Redpoll does music reminiscent of playful American lo-fi indie bands such as, say, a less twee All Girl Summer Fun Band, while the number Female Drummer was clearly inspired by Cheer Chen’s Groupies.

Elyzia’s harder-edged rock sound are paired with lyrics with some dramatic flair but the result feels familiar rather than fresh.

The musical identity of ah5ive is probably the murkiest of the lot. It goes from featuring churning guitars on Help Me to the more mainstream pop of Who Can Reach The Final Moment.

The idea of a platform to showcase local indie pop is laudable but in this instance, the raw vocals take a little getting used to and generally need more work. It would also be in the bands’ interest to develop a more distinctive sound.

Maybe they could return to base and regroup before setting off on their next musical venture.

(ST)