Fragile
Tizzy Bac
On their last album The Tell-Tale Heart (2011), Taiwanese indie band Tizzy Bac looked to master of the macabre, writer Edgar Allan Poe, for inspiration. This time around, it is the fragility of life that serves as muse.
There is a sense of urgency on synth-pop number One By One Oh We’re Gonna Die as lyricist and vocalist Chen Hui-ting warns “Don’t take it for granted and squander your youth and entire life” and “The colour of the story in the end will depend on the choices you’ve made”.
Existential angst is explored on This Is Because We Can Feel Pain: “Sometimes, standing in the face of terror/We need to get a grip and push on forward.”
The band are no one-note doomsday purveyors, though. Fragile is a rich and epic album that celebrates life as well.
Against a lush orchestral arrangement, gorgeous opener Tonight, Tonight, Tonight holds out an irresistible offer: “We can run away tonight, tonight, tonight/In the darkest night, the stars remain brilliant.”
Its sentiment is echoed in the closing number Armstrong’s One Small Step (I’ll See You In My Dream): “No matter how clamorous the world/Lift your head and you’ll reach the universe/In that vastness, I am a shimmer of light.”
May Tizzy Bac shine on.
(ST)