I first heard “玉石樂隊 (Jade Band)” on radio and I was thinking, “Is this Kelly? Or Joey? Who’s this?”. I was totally captivated by that song.

It’s been 1.5 years since Jade released her previous Cantonese album. I was impressed by her vocal when she released her first album, “Jade-1″ in 2002 and was looking good on her. Unfortunately, in the competitive HK market, her popularity has been overshadowed by the flowing numbers of newcomers.

After the little jazz intro, there’s the lovely jazz number, “玉石樂隊”. I didn’t realize that the song is about herself before I looked at the lyrics, because “jade” means “玉石” in Chinese. She’s telling us in the song how much she loves singing. “我不需要什麼　要快樂 (I don’t need anything, I want to be happy)” “因此我喜歡唱歌 (Therefore I love to sing)”.

“三毛流浪記 (The Adventure of San Mao)” and “白先勇 (Bak Sin Yong)” (It’s a name of an author) are both composed and arranged by 王建威 Wong Kin Wai, thus share the same style of soothing and dreamy arrangement. They makes me listen to them again and again, especially the latter. Jade also composed a song in the album - track 4, “讚 (Praise)“, which is praise-worthy. Suprisingly it sounds very alternative and different. The same goes to track 8, “蟬 (Cicada)” which is composed by 蔡一智 Choy Yat Jee.

“眼中桃花 (Peach Blossom in the Eyes)” and “粉筆字 (Chalk Writing)” are both excellent ballads. The flowing piano arrangement of 眼中桃花 has added some taste of classical music. The notes go very high at the end yet Jade handles it well. On the other hand, 粉筆字 is sweet and soft. “Ring My Bell“, the only English song in the album also showcases her powerful vocal.

I always have expectation for this singer since I heard her “負擔不起 Foo Dam But Hei (Unbearable)” in her first album. There’s no doubt that she’s a good singer.

Track listing:

1. Jade Loves.. (Music)
2. 玉石樂隊 Yuk Sek Ngok Doei [Jade Band]
3. 三毛流浪記 Sam Mou Lao Long Gei [The Adventure of San Mao]
4. 讚 Zhan [Praise]
5. 眼中桃花 Ngan Zhung Tou Fa [Peach Blossom in the Eyes]
6. 白先勇 Bak Sin Yong
7. A Message For You (Music)
8. 蟬 Sin [Cicada]
9. 粉筆字 Fun But Ji [Chalk Writing]
10. 差一分鐘(十時) Cha Yat Fun Zhung (Sap See) [A Minute To (Ten O’clock)]
11. The Story of Peach Blossom (Music)
12. Ring My Bell
13. 桃花眼 (國語) Tao Hua Yan (Mandarin) [Eyes of Peach Blossom]
14. 鉛筆字 (國語) Qian Bi Ji (Mandarin) [Pencil Writing]
15. When Jade Meets Jade (Music)

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Recommended tracks: 2, 5, 6, 9