Timeless
Meeia Foo

A Love Letter
Gary Yang

Heaven Walker
Eddie Chow

Joe's Singing For You
Joe Cheng

A debut solo album is an artiste's calling card to the world - this is who I am, this is what I do. Which makes Malaysian singer Meeia Foo's choice of material for Timeless both audacious and puzzling.
The runner-up of season two of Super Idol, singing contest One Million Star’s main rival, has chosen to tackle classic songs.
The good news is that she has the pipes to pull off most of the material, delivering quite a heartfelt rendition of the Minnan track Life Is An Ocean and very competent versions of English power ballads such as The Rose.
But some of the covers feel utterly pointless: Pan Yueh-yun’s compelling Am I The One You Love The Most? is still superior, while no one needs a remake of Celine Dion’s My Heart Will Go On.
In contrast, Gary Yang wrote all the music and most of the lyrics on his debut solo album.
He is not exactly a newcomer, though, since he was a founding member of pop group Nan Quan Mama. Which probably explains this relatively assured outing where he tackles salsa rhythms on Havana and takes a light-hearted look at romance on tracks such as Oh Why and In Love.
His good friend, superstar Jay Chou, also chimes in on the chorus of the laidback Moonlight.
Yang’s strong Taiwanese accent takes a little getting used to, though.
Like Yang, Eddie Chow also composed most of the music on his album, whose electronic elements are a welcome touch.
Unfortunately, the title track comes off like a cut-rate Jay Chou rap and only makes you appreciate Vincent Fang’s lyrical prowess all the more.
The lone Cantonese track Together suggests that, Chow, who grew up in Malaysia and is now a Singapore permanent resident, is more comfortable in Cantonese than in Mandarin.
The bigger problem, though, is his tendency to waver off-key on a few occasions.
Idol drama star Joe Cheng’s foray into music banks unabashedly on his prettyboy looks. The five-track EP comes with an accompanying DVD that is just as long. In it, we get to see Cheng acting cute as he traipses around Ishikawa prefecture in Japan, getting the locals to wave enthusiastically at the camera.
Without the background visuals, the tedious music and Cheng’s thin, bland vocals cannot bear much scrutiny or repeat listening.
As a singer, the last thing you want is to be seen and not heard.
(ST)