What Love Songs Didn't Tell You

Fish Leong

From Here To There

Yu Heng

Hu Ai Xia

Hu Xia

To the uninitiated, it seems like Fish Leong is perpetually nursing a cold. But that is actually the secret of the Malaysian balladeer’s success.

She sounds like she has just stopped crying her heart out seconds before stepping up to the mike to pour out her feelings in songs such as Adore, Silk Road and Courage.

The titular track this time around opens with an all-too-familiar couplet: “Some things you don’t have to ask about, some folks you don’t have to wait for.”

Lyricist Frederic Lee takes this from the Jonathan Lee-penned classic Dream To Awakening and also references another hit of his, Scars.

The lesson here is summed up thus: “What love songs didn’t tell us, singing about courage without having it is useless.”

Compared to previous opening salvos from her albums, however, this feels less affecting and a little lacking in epic sweep.

Happily, there is no lack of stronger material here. Just listen to the yearning in To The You I Haven’t Met, the playful whimsy of If The Fridge Could Speak and the laidback charm of Faster To Move Slowly.

Another highlight here is the gently moving ballad Will You Or Won’t You, composed by the Malaysian singer-songwriter Yu Heng, who goes back to basics on her fourth album, From Here To There.

It is a move that has paid off: At one point, she had the rare distinction of simultaneously having three songs on the Radio 1003 music chart – the indie rock-flavoured Life?!, All My Friends Have Gotten Married and chart-topper Summer’s Confession.

Her songs are unvarnished and intimate affairs that feel true to life. You hear her clearing her throat on Summer’s Confession for which the refreshing English chorus goes: “And I do not care about my hair/I do not care about what I should wear... I’ve never known myself better than now/I’m trying hard to be honest to everyone.”

All My Friends Have Gotten Married is a poignant tale of heartbreak: “What am I waiting for, all my friends have gotten married/Spending their lives with the one they love the most/I was still planning to give the best love to you/But it’s already too late, alas/I’m no longer in your heart.”

On his debut album, China singer Hu Xia offers a more positive exploration of love. The winner of the sixth edition of the One Million Star singing competition show, and the first champ from the mainland, was inspired by his parents’ love story.

He sings on Love Summer: “The first summer day I fell in love with you/I wanted to give you the whole world.” It’s all very sweet and his clear, bright voice and squeaky-clean looks work with the earnest material.

Also making an impression are Against The Flow and Playing The Piano, Falling In Love, though Hu’s vocals can seem a bit thin at times. Time to start nursing that cold.

(ST)