Herstory With Mayday
Various artists
Popular Taiwanese band Mayday are right there in the title but you will not hear them sing on this concept album.
Instead, 10 diverse female music acts take on 10 of the all-male quintet’s songs.
As the rockers have always worn their hearts on their sleeves in their music, that emotional directness is something that a singer can readily tap into, regardless of gender.
Indeed, the band members have written for many women singers as well, including balladeer Fish Leong, girl group S.H.E and power vocalist Jia Jia. Incidentally, all three appear here.
The results here are sometimes surprising, often moving, and offer some pithy lessons on how to record a cover.
One way to go is to venture as far from the original as possible. That is exactly what diva Sandy Lam, indie darling Waa Wei and veteran Kay Huang have done.
Eternal Summer is now a shimmering slice of indie electropop as Lam insists: “I won’t turn, I won’t turn, I won’t turn, I won’t turn.” Mayday’s portrait of headstrong and restless youth is now a declaration of womanly strength.
Blistering rocker Viva Love is completely unrecognisable as it is skittery and mysterious, with Wei’s hushed vocals draped over it. Huang’s The Yet Unbroken Part Of My Heart swings lightly and jazzily.
Alternatively, one could pare the arrangements to a minimum and let the beauty of the song shine through. In this case, it helps if one has the vocal chops to do the heavy lifting.
Prime exhibits include Qu Wanting’s moving and heartfelt take on Life Has A Kind Of Certainty, Lala Hsu’s quietly compelling reading of Suddenly Miss You So Much and Eve Ai’s beguiling Like Smoke.
In the successful covers – G.E.M.’s power pop ballad rendition of You’re Not Truly Happy and Jia Jia’s gently heartbreaking I Don’t Want You To Be Alone – the essence of Mayday remains even as the song becomes undeniably the singer’s.
Regrettably, S.H.E’s Jump comes across as perfunctory and Leong’s Tenderness, ironically, feels blanched of emotion. Neither cover seems necessary.
(ST)