Songs Of Transience
Cheer Chen
To a Cheer Chen fan, time is waiting, and waiting is the space that stretches out between her releases. Almost five years after Immortal (2009), the Taiwanese singer-songwriter grapples with the concept of time on her sixth album.
The Chinese title is literally Songs About Time, with the concept of transience being only part of the story.
She muses on the title track that time is “a wasted heart”, “a river of death/ with no memories after an autopsy” and “a sound asleep face”. It is by turns merciless and tender.
Her contemplation takes a darker turn on A Box Of Rain, which pairs her composition with poet Hsia Yu’s lyrics: “I’m so lonely and unpredictable, I think I’ll slowly go mad.”
The ballad Gypsy In Memory is another lilting, meditative track, one that is filled with yearning: “Support me, let me come to a true stop/Hold you and complete a beautiful dream.”
She ponders the meaning of life on View With A Grain Of Sand. After setting up a series of questions, the chorus answers: “They say life is like a grain of sand/If Life could speak/She would say thank you for loving her/As the ocean loves the waves.”
Music-wise, it is mostly ballads and mid-tempo tracks with one or two surprises. She goes all hippie in the sitar- accompanied Peace & Revolution, singing about love and destiny.
Thoughtful, honest and poetic, these are songs worth waiting for.
(ST)