Magical Shop
Peggy Hsu

Just The Way I Am
Genie Chuo

Taiwan’s Peggy Hsu and Genie Chuo both made their debuts in 2001.
Both celebrated a decade in music last year, and both have come up with new releases to mark the milestone.
It has been a sometimes rocky road for Hsu. The 30-year-old was mired in a contractual dispute for years, after her song Balloon (2001) flew out and became a hit, and it was not until 2007 that her sophomore effort Peggy’s Wish Box was released.
On her fifth disc Magical Shop, the singer-songwriter continues to whip up whimsy, a mood that was most effectively sustained on the winter-themed Snowman (2009) and the circus-inspired EP Le Cirque I (2010).
This time around, she draws on magic and fairy tales. Sometimes, she seems content to be twee and cutesy even when the subject is sadness. She sings in the track Venice: “Tears are water that’s been seasoned with salt/falling drop by drop, bit by bit/cooking a bowl of noodles.”
One wishes there were more songs such as the poignantly observed The Fool Who Sells Smiles: “The fool is singing, the sky is adrift with dazzling perfect snow/The grand ball starts like this/The matches all burnt out, leaving behind cold air.”
While not quite wondrously magical, it remains worthwhile to poke about in this Shop.
On album No. 5, Chuo’s shrill voice still takes a little getting used to. To her credit, the 25-year-old is trying to shake up her sweetie-pie image with the catchy dance-pop of Villain and Don’t, Don’t.
But while she reportedly drew on her own failed romance for the lyrics for Enough, the results feel fairly generic: “Don’t want to love any more, don’t want to not let go, don’t want to become the one who admits defeat at the end/Want to cry, want to go crazy, want to forget, you were the person I once loved.”
Chuo might declare that this is who she is with the album title, but it is Hsu who has the more distinctive musical personality.
(ST)