Desert Island Without A Friday
Waa Wei

A Good Day To A Perfect Life
Various artists

Feeling trapped and being obsessive have rarely sounded so entrancing.
Taiwanese singer-songwriter Waa Wei draws on the story of Robinson Crusoe for the title ballad, mixing elements of that desert-island tale into a beguiling fable of her own.
She tenderly whispers savage lines: “Hopelessness actually satisfies me deeply” – and beautifully imagined ones – “Having become your desert island/No ocean currents and sea birds/Perhaps we don’t even have Friday”.
The tempo goes up a notch for Broken Song as she observes: “This mouldy relationship has a whiff of fishiness/The complicated game has accidentally upended the entire forest”.
Final track Je T’Aime, Moi Non Plus (I Love You, Me Neither) lets loose the emotions in a satisfying outburst. With Desert Island and Where (2011), Wei proves to have a knack for delivering cohesive EPs that bewitch and seduce.
Meanwhile, Taiwanese indie label A Good Day’s compilation album of previously released material is an almost cohesive collection.
From Ciacia Ho’s alternative electronica of We Go Forward Happily to Ze Hwang’s spare acoustic ballad December Night to collaborative new track Open Your Eyes, there is much here to enjoy and engage with.
The cute drawings by famed illustrator Jimmy Liao further add to the charm of the record.
Folkster Dadado Huang asks on Flower Butterfly: “Do you like listening to music as much as I do, do you wish to know the world better as well?” If the answer is yes, look no further.
(ST)