Miracle
Valen Hsu

Love In Songs
Rachel Liang

At her peak in the late 1990s, Taiwan’s Valen Hsu was selling millions of records and winning fans with her beautifully pristine vocals.
Her commercial fortunes have since faded but her voice is as gorgeous as ever. And she works with top-notch talents on this album to showcase it. They include sodagreen’s Wu Ching-feng and home- grown songwriters Tanya Chua and Xiaohan.
There is a sense of anticipation, of being on the verge of something new and exciting, in the title track penned by Chua: “Something’s happening around me/What is it, I can only guess, play a game of catch and guess.”
Some of the loveliest tracks include two ballads composed by Wu, the lush I Will Be With You and the poignant The Most Precious Thing Is Meeting.
Musically, Miracle blooms with orchestral strings and a smattering of electronica touches.
While Hsu has moved on creatively, Taiwan’s Rachel Liang takes a step back on her fifth album. Yellow Jacket (2013) added some colour to her usual palette of ballads but she is back to painting by the numbers here.
Taken as a whole, the album suffers from a surfeit of love ballads. It is best savoured in small doses such as the sweet and simple Rukai Tribe Girls and the laidback title number with its strumming guitar accompaniment.
Also included here is the hit Let’s Not Be Friends After Breaking Up, the ending theme of the idol drama Deja Vu.
Unfortunately, deja vu could also be used to describe the sensation one gets on encountering this album.
(ST)