Galaxy Crisis: The Strangest Midnight Broadcast
Joanna Wang
At the Spring Wave Music Festival earlier this month, Taiwanese singer-songwriter Joanna Wang stood out with her striking green outfit and her inimitable brand of offbeat musical story-telling.
Those who had dived into her previous English album, The Adventures Of Bernie The Schoolboy (2011), will know to expect a richly imagined world of whimsy here as well.
This time, she ventures even further off the beaten track to come up with what could be a soundtrack to a space fantasy with titles such as Garden Party On Mars and Meteor One (Inside The Mind Of A Wrestling Fanatic).
Her musical influences are deliriously diverse and match the out-there themes of her songs.
The retro bossa nova-influenced Coins has her threatening: “I’ll buy you out, I’ll buy your house!/Yes that’s what it’s all about, I’ll buy them out!”
Other tracks will have you smiling at the mood of theatrical silliness.
The Antagonist begins thus: “This song falls in the category of/Those songs where protagonists feel sorry for themselves/Except I’m not the protagonist.”
The cartoonish-sounding Evil Nerd Theme has an unlikely refrain: “Yes deep down, deep down he’s just/A guy who likes anime!”
The smoky-voiced Wang could have just coasted along doing covers of jazz standards and Mandarin evergreens.
But thankfully, she has little interest in doing so.
She is having too much fun exploring the boundless music universe, so buckle up and enjoy the ride with her.
(ST)