in::music – Relax-ONE
Esplanade Recital Studio/Sunday
Relax by name, relaxed by nature.
The indie Taiwanese band released their debut album, I Want To Relax And Play, in 2005 and their follow-up, One More, came out last Friday.
There was, aptly enough, a laidback vibe to their 80-minute gig. Female vocalist Summer chatted easily between songs, describing where certain songs were written, the message of certain tracks and their initial hesitation at coming here because they were not sure they would have an audience.
While the venue was half-full, there were some true-blue fans including one who said he had a copy of their first EP. Summer’s joking response: “We’re old friends then. Come backstage for a drink.”
The atmosphere was chill but there was nothing lazy or slipshod about the music. The four-member group were bolstered by an additional drummer, which meant a more muscular than usual rhythm section and some unusual percussion instrumentation.
The band also proved to be versatile.
Their repertoire included emo ballads such as Kan Qing (See Clearly) and Ni (You), the humorously contemplative Fang Yi Ge Pi (Let One Rip), as well as the flamenco-flavoured Chun Xia Qiu Dong (Spring Summer Fall Winter).
Summer’s lightly husky voice worked well with the material and she showed that she could belt it out with the best of them.
On Xin Qing Dian Bo (Hot Radio), which had a calypso feel to it, she enthusiastically engaged the audience in a call-and-response.
They saved Feng Guang Ming Mei (Beautiful Scenery) for the set-closer and, to the audience’s delight, Summer worked in references to Singapore and Hainanese chicken rice.
This breezy number was used in the hit Taiwanese movie Cape No. 7 (2008) and is probably one of their best-known tracks.
As Summer told it, she almost had a role in the ensemble drama but things did not quite work out.
Still, there were no hard feelings and the song was dedicated to the film’s director Wei Te-sheng.
Relax-ONE came back for a rousing encore that had some fans up on their feet and dancing. And Summer promptly invited them backstage for drinks.
(ST)