Pop Songs With Guitar
Crowd Lu

Listen To Clock
Peter Pan

Get Set, Go!
Tay Kexin

What becomes of a schoolyard singer without a schoolyard? Singer-songwriter Crowd Lu is finally graduating from university and is about to serve his compulsory stint in Taiwan’s military.
More than any other singer in recent years, he is closely associated with school life as his songs revolve around studying and friendship, particularly on his sterling debut, 100 Ways Of Living (2008).
He is well aware of that fact and even has a song called Schoolyard Singer here, in which he contemplates: “I am a schoolyard singer/Each time I cry/ It’s a composition/Please listen to my song/The scenery inside is beautiful.”
The Scent Of Night, previously released as a single, makes the best case for Lu successfully making the transition from college crooner to adult life. It has a sense of mystery and joy to it that is beguiling and is the best thing on the album.
But some of the other material here feels less fresh. Perhaps a change of environment is just the thing Lu needs to grow as a musician.
Growth can be seen in Taiwanese singer Peter Pan’s sophomore album Listen To Clock. It is an ambitious effort revolving around the concept of time and has several strong tracks, from the elegiac ballad Needle to the dark comedy of Get Shot By A Gun Even Just Lying Down.
A favourite here is Can’t Wait To Love which has Pan hitting his higher range over the catchy chorus: “Love ah love, can’t wait for it, it’s very strange/Like a pendulum that won’t stop, tick-tick- tock-tock in an endless cycle, to remind one that the time has come.”
The time might well have arrived for local singer-songwriter Tay Kexin, who proves there is such a thing as good music genes. The younger sister of popular singer- songwriter Tay Kewei, she has released a debut EP that showcases her range.
Bravely Prove is an upbeat optimistic number, while Turning Point is an emotive ballad that has her tackling her lower range. Lone English track Someday You’ll Be has a nice swing to it, as she croons: “Someday you’ll be free/From the troubles you’ve seen/Someday you’ll be/Better than you ever believed.”
The prospect of a better, full-length album from Tay is a cheery one indeed.
(ST)