Turn Back & Smile
Tay Kewei

Miss Kelly
Kelly Poon

The quest to be the next Stefanie Sun of local Mandopop continues with new releases from Tay Kewei and Kelly Poon.
Tay’s previous two full-length albums comprised largely English covers. This time around, she strikes out as a full-fledged Mandopop singer-songwriter, having had a hand in writing nine of the 10 tracks.
Heart Shaped Hole is an emotive number and while the title track is more upbeat in sentiment, it remains firmly in ballad territory. They are a bit too safe and middle-of-the-road though. Good thing that Tay has a textured warm voice that helps to lift the songs.
Things pick up with the lazy lilt of Nostalgia and the easy-breezy acoustic number Missing You. And she picks up the pace as well on Unforgettable, which mixes a dance beat with the plaintive wail of the erhu.
Tay plays the stringed instrument and the smart use of traditional Chinese music elements is one of the most interesting things about this album. The final song starts off with a solo erhu passage and gets to a rousing chorus that has a triumphant Tay feeling Victorious.
In stark contrast, Poon seems to be feeling anything but triumphant after trying to break out for almost a decade.
The hurt and self-doubt spill over on the ballad Clown: “I feel like I’m a clown/Always performing for a disdainful you/Discarded dignity/Behind the smiles/I try hard to give the most exciting solo show/How ridiculous.”
It turns out that the track, co-composed by Poon with lyrics by her, is one of the most moving things she has ever done.
Unfortunately, the EP is not consistently strong. Lover gives Coco Lee’s ballad I Am Still Your Lover an acceptable, but not essential, dance track makeover. And the sole English number Why Goodbye merely sounds dated.
Still, it would be a pity to miss this entirely.
(ST)