Japanese Singer

Ken Hirai

The title may be prosaic, the record is anything but.

The smooth vocal stylings of Japanese singer-songwriter Ken Hirai cover quite a bit of ground on his eighth studio album.

R&B is a self-deprecating exploration of his identity: “R&B, I’m Japanese, but I love it/Although my dance moves aren’t fantastic/R&B, I’m Japanese, but I love it/Although my English ain’t that great.”

Loving You is a retro-sounding ballad that was the theme song for the Japanese-Korean remake of the romance Ghost.

Hirai goes slinky on Candy, complete with falsetto flair: “Love me love me love me love me, you see me sticking out my tongue/Coming coming coming coming I’m your cherry, a little erotic, intense, painful, jealous.” It is pure ear candy even if a snatch of melody is pilfered from Hikaru Utada’s Wait & See: Risk.

Since his third record The Changing Same (2000) topped the Oricon album chart, he has been a regular fixture on the J-pop music scene.

Be it something uplifting, romantic or sexy, as Hirai proclaims on the opening track, he just wants to “sing sing sing forever”.

Love Presents

Linda Liao

Taiwan’s Linda Liao has gone from presenting songs on the weekly countdown show on MTV Chinese to appearing on the charts in her own right.

Seven years after the release of her second album I Support You, she is having another go at a singing career.

Love Oh Love has a mid-tempo groove that does not overtax her so-so vocals while the English lyrics blithely rhyme fly, cry, try.

At least there is a welcome display of spunkiness on tracks such as Crown Prince Imperial Concubine, Starring Role and LP, a duet in which she and Malaysian singer-songwriter Penny Tai trade advice and encouragement on relationships.

Perhaps the Arys Chien-composed I Will Work Hard offers a glimpse into how she feels about music at this juncture: “I know it’s not easy, but I will work hard/Compose my heart, venture bravely on alone.”

(ST)