Heartbeat
G.E.M.
By the time Hong Kong-based singer G.E.M. released her latest album, fans were already familiar with several of the tracks.
The star of the second season of televised contest I Am A Singer (2014) has been steadily releasing singles over the year and tracks such as Long Distance and One Way Road have topped music charts.
The ballad Long Distance is a winner with its cascading piano accompaniment and an earnest chorus: “I can get used to the long distance, love isn’t always up to us/Would rather use a different way, to love you from afar.”
All of the songs, wholly written by G.E.M., are catchy material that plays to her strength as a powerful and emotive singer.
But the album feels like a disparate collection, its parts never quite coherent as a whole – which may be the reason for or the result of the piecemeal release strategy.
(ST)