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Jolin Tsai
On her last album Muse (2012), Taiwanese pop diva Jolin Tsai fruitfully drew inspiration from the creative process. The undisputed gem there was The Great Artist, which went on to nab the Golden Melody Award for Best Song Of The Year.
She is not quite done with creative play yet.
On the electropop-rap title track, she seems to declare that she is beyond categorisation: “Who cares if you’re niche or mass-market, pooh/Who cares if you’re fresh and light or have heavier tastes, pooh.”
Indeed, some of her play-acting here ventures into suggestively darker places. On one version of the cover – there are at least three – she is bound to a chair with pink ribbon while a tattooed arm is holding a lollipop up to her dark red lips. Read into it what you will.
She dabbles in diverse collaborations on the music and one of the most anticipated has to be her teaming up with Japanese pop diva Namie Amuro on the Mandarin and English dance number, I’m Not Yours. The result is not the most compelling thing either have done, but at least the message is a positive one about girl power.
Instead, it might be the sassy and funny Phony Queen that best exemplifies the spirit of playfulness here.
(ST)