Ideal Life
Lala Hsu
The pixie-faced Lala Hsu is one of the most promising singer-songwriters to have emerged from the singing competition One Million Star.
She made a strong showing with her self-titled debut album in 2009. It included the excellent Riding On A White Horse, which unexpectedly and successfully mixed pop with Chinese opera.
Follow-up album Limits (2010) was less memorable though the ballad Acrophobia was a decided highlight.
On her new record, Hsu sounds more mature and assured than ever.
The heart of the album are ballads that throb with a morass of emotions.
I Dare You has her challenging a lover: “I dare you to/Say that hating me is like loving me, a determination springing from the heart/I dare you, loving someone can make you feel petty and low.”
And the title track with lyrics by David Ke is heartbreakingly poignant: “Are we happier than before/Each leading our ideal lives/ Knowing better than anyone in my heart/No one is more suitable than you.”
The rest of the album is no slouch either.
From charming opener Cuckoo, on which her dulcet tones gently caress the lyrics, to energising closer Lala’s Squad, Hsu has crafted a beautifully honest and moving record about love and life.

Mr. Jazz – A Song For You
Jam Hsiao
Asian singers have proved before that they can do jazz.
Hong Kong’s Jacky Cheung tackled the genre in Cantonese on Private Corner (2010), while Taiwan’s Soft Lipa collaborated with Japanese jazz quintet Jabberloop on the heady concoction that was Moonlight (2010).
Unfortunately, Mr Jazz takes a step backward.
Yes, Taiwan’s Jam Hsiao has the pipes, but his phrasing often feels stiff and overly mannered here.
And do we really need another version of chestnuts such as Rhythm Of The Rain and Put Your Head On My Shoulder?
His less-than-perfect diction further distracts.
Listening to him sing “I thing of you every morneeeng” on (I Love You) For
Sentimental Reasons, you would seriously wish you did not.
(ST)