Story Thief
A-mei
On her last album, Amit 2 (2015), Taiwanese singer A-mei seethed and snarled. For example, she let it rip on Matriarchy: “Men proclaim themselves kings while women have to bear the weight of the world.”
As though in deliberate contrast, Story Thief is quieter and less confrontational. The singer is more concerned with matters of the heart and the pared-down arrangements place the focus on her voice and naked feelings. It is the ballads which shine here as she works with top collaborators such as Jay Chou and JJ Lin.
The opening title track, penned by Taiwanese singer-songwriter Eve Ai, has A-mei ruminating on a failed relationship: “When you left that day, I stopped telling stories/ Stopped weaving transitions, no need to fret about an ending.”
There is no chorus with an obvious hook here, but the melody sneaks up on you and the honesty of the emotions draws one in.
On the ballad A Bad Good Guy, with lyrics by Singapore’s Xiaohan, A-mei acknowledges: “Whose heart hasn’t been damaged, hasn’t been trapped/Grateful to have survived, that’s enough to be real/Not much innocence left in life/I’m willing to wait again for a bad good guy.”
Full Name, composed by Mandopop king Chou, narrates a poignant tale of unrequited love. A loss of intimacy is conveyed by a telling little detail: “When you mention me again, it’s already by my full name.”
This is the sound of someone a little rueful, a little older and wiser, and yet still clinging to hope.
A handful of tracks take a different tack, including the synth number Withdrawal, which presents another aspect of relationships – desperate desire: “Want to breathe you in deeply/Dig my nails into your flesh.”
Story Thief, it turns out, is a pop album for adults.
(ST)