Heart Disk
Huang Yida

Kyrie Eleison
Chen Zhiming

That Girl In Pinafore Original Soundtrack
Various artists

Mark this National Day with some home-grown music.
Celebrate with singer- songwriter Huang Yida as he makes a welcome return to the music scene. His future had been uncertain after a best-of collection, Yida’s Journey, was released in 2009 and his record contract with Sony Music ended.
Following an EP, Glimmer, in 2011, he finally delivers a new album. And it is not what one would expect at all. Who knew that he is really a rocker at heart?
From the punk stylings of the cover image to the music, not to mention the title of one track, Set Me Free III, it seems that he gets to call the shots on his latest effort.
Opening number Sparkle is an energetic electro-rocker that sets the stage, while My Heart Disk is a ballad with some revealing lyrics: “How many people can get up again after falling/And discover their true selves.”
Huang boldly takes the unusual move of incorporating instrumental tracks into the album. It all comes together, giving the work the cohesive feel of a tone poem.
Heart Disk throbs with the sound of someone coming into his own as a singer- songwriter.
Also searching for his voice is Chen Zhiming, bass player for local indie bands such as In Each Hand A Cutlass. His lightly husky vocals are promising, and kudos to him for taking on composing and lyric- writing duties as well.
The Hokkien rock number Shiok is bracing, while tracks such as Baby have a more laidback groove.
Some of the sentiment, though, veers towards the prosaic. He sings on Yesterday: “Although I’ll sometimes dream of you/That gentle smile on your face is so sweet/But I know we can’t be together.”
The sentiment on the xinyao tracks of yesteryear ring true.
As Chai Yee Wei, director of That Girl In Pinafore, has said, the songs have been given a fresh coat of paint for the movie.
Yi Bu Yi Bu Lai (One Step At A Time), for example, has been given the rock treatment with buzzing electric guitars added to the mix.
It was originally by Liang Wern Fook and is now remade as an ensemble number with cast members including Project Superstar winner Daren Tan and MediaCorp actress Julie Tan.
Having grown up with them, the folksier, homespun charms of the original versions of songs such as Xi Shui Chang Liu (Friends Forever), originally by Liang and remade here in a cast version as well as a solo take, will always have a special place in my heart.
Still, the makeovers do have their moments, particularly on the joyful female-fronted (Julie Tan, Jayley Woo and Hayley Woo) Li Ming De Xin (Dawn’s Heart) and ensemble number Xing Kong Xia (Starry Sky).
More importantly, the exposure from the movie and soundtrack means that music from the seminal local movement that was xinyao is reaching a new audience. The soundtrack is currently sitting pretty at No. 1 on the album chart on iTunes.
(ST)