Be My Own Friend
Della Ding Dang
The ballad So You’ve Always Been Here is a sweet song which China’s Della Ding Dang sings beautifully.
No power belting, no sustained high notes – just the moving realisation that the one you love has been patiently waiting for you all this time.
Despite the cliched sentiment, there is nothing hackneyed about her delicate delivery of indie singer-songwriter Europa Huang’s tender tune: “Love at second sight, must be love/So you’ve been waiting, waiting for me to find myself/So you’ve always been here.”
On the ballad Protective Colour, with lyrics by Singapore’s Xiaohan, she shows her vulnerable side: “Coldness is my new protective colour/My temporary shell/This heart can’t afford to be hurt now.”
Elsewhere, Della Ding Dang’s seventh album mixes things up with breezy fast-paced tracks such as Want To Fall In Love and the sassy retro pop of Intersect.
Still, it is the quieter moments that linger on in the mind.
(ST)