Hollywood Zoo
Gary Chaw

Free Spirit
Lara Veronin

Actually Love
Nick Yeo

Show business is a zoo and entertainers are like caged animals.
The conceit is a cynical one on the second of Malaysian singer-songwriter Gary Chaw’s albums out last year: Released in December, Hollywood Zoo follows Gary Chaw Project Sensation 1 Jazz, his English-language interpretation of jazz classics with South American band Musa’s Trio, six months earlier.
The ballad Not Good? opens with the image of impossible escape: “If I could have wings, I want to fly to another life.”
He also sings on Zoo: “I am like a declining old tiger, locked up by you here, only loneliness remains.”
It is not all gloom and doom, though. The swinging retro pop of Hollywood oozes fun and glamour, while the cheery Malay folk song Rasa Sayang gets worked into the breezy Sunshine.
In contrast, Russian-Taiwanese- American singer-songwriter Lara Veronin is feeling like a free spirit.
The jangly title track sets the laidback mood for the follow-up to her debut album Hello (2010), as she croons: “Want to add some colour to your black and white life?/Free your soul.”
Apple is another charmer with an irresistibly upbeat melody paired with adorable lyrics by Gary Yang: “Heads shoulders knees and knees and toes/ Fermenting the smile of love, I’m about to be swallowed.”
Being free is also about being honest. She promises on Darling: “Darling, this time I’m going to love you more truthfully/Throw away the mask and face myself completely.”
Free Spirit is the sound of an artist coming into her own and it will win you over.
Meanwhile, local newcomer Nick Yeo makes a good first impression with his debut EP Actually Love.
The singer-songwriter has a soothing voice with a hint of raspiness. He is well-suited for ballads and his debut EP cleverly capitalises on that.
This is a batch of easy-on-the-ears tunes paired with the able work of local lyricist Kaiyang.
On the track Able, Yeo sings: “You are able to turn day and night upside down/You are able to wilfully ignore advice.”
Thank You sounds like a regular love song at first: “Your love is like oxygen/Lets me breathe/The strength to strive for my dreams.”
But it is actually a touching and tender note of affection and gratitude to his father.
Hopefully, Yeo will not get lost in the shuffle of male balladeers out there as he can sound like, among others, Jaycee Chan.
But if he continues to write strong material, that should not be a concern.
(ST)