Departures
Karen Mok
Arriving in time to bid farewell to the year is Karen Mok’s new album, Departures. The two-time Golden Melody Award winner for Best Female Mandarin Artist is in a reflective mood as she ruminates on farewells and reunions.
On standout ballad Outside The Borders, emotional baggage fails to weigh her down: “Feel like leaving, leave/Walk beyond memories, there’s nothing to worship/Feel like returning, return/Realise after touring, I’ve left the past outside the borders.”
Saying goodbye need not always be a morose affair. Opener Farewell To Myself finds Mok in celebratory jazz-rock mode as she philosophises: “Regardless of how busy life gets, at least once/You’ll leave yourself, meet yourself.”
Meanwhile, Regardez, penned by sodagreen’s Wu Ching-feng, seems to offer a snapshot of her life after marrying German finance executive Johannes Natterer in 2011.
She sings with fervour: “Let you look at my heart/Let you look at my heart/Every tomorrow, every deep night, every season, won’t change anymore/Let me look at your heart/Let me look at your heart/Every process, every circumstance, want you to dote on them.”
It seems that marriage will not be tying down the Hong Kong singer as she declares on the last track, With Just One Piece Of Baggage. Adventures in life and music beckon.
(ST)