Chinese Music Blog

Valen Hsu is back, not just back with a new album but back to her own element, back to what she’s good at.

She was one of my favourite female singers back in the 90’s. Her gentle soothing voice was one of the best in the industry at that time. But now in the 21st century, her vocal isn’t exactly what would appeal to the market anymore, but still better than a lot of the up and comers. However, I doubt this album will gain many new fans but it may be suitable for the existing ones.

So what’s good about this album is as mentioned, Valen is singing songs that play to her strengths once again. Soft, soothing love ballads that, coupled with her crisp vocals, are heart wrenching and could make you feel the story in the lyrics. I don’t care what others claim (indie, soft rock), this is a simple pop album, reminiscent of the 90’s, and it’s what Valen is good at.

The first single, also the first song in the album, is her self composed (I can’t recall she’s ever written anything in the past) See The Fireworks Through. A classical guitar driven song, soft, simplistic, elegant. A good introduction to her comeback and a good reintroduction to her crystal clear vocals.

The second song, Man and Woman, is a duet with mainlander Amguulan (I must admit I have no idea who he is) and is written by Kenji Wu (who also wrote Hao Ting which Valen released as a single last year, I think, but not included in this album). This is another yearning love song with beautiful melody. The only problem I have, quite a significant one actually, is in the first verse after Valen’s part, there’s that distinct change in key for Amguulan to come in. To me, this is the most pathetic excuse for making a duet work and it really shouldn’t be done this way anymore in this day and age. It’s just lazy song writing, the verse is compromised to make the chorus work.

The third song, Handwritten Love, written by the dynamic duo that is Fang and Chou, has that distinct Jay melody, but greatly toned down of course for a 90’s singer. It’s actually one the strongest songs in the album. But honestly, Valen’s vocals aren’t the most ideal for this song, nor is her delivery of Fang’s fantastical lyrics. And the arrangement, in order to suit her vocals, is also compromised a little, especially the part just before the final chorus.

The fourth song, I Will Never Say I Love You, is my favourite from the album. The melody is the strongest in my opinion and the lyrics are also very well written.

Fifth song, Loving Animal, has a very sad melody that works well with her “helpless” vocal that once it reaches the chorus, it really tugs at your heart strings. This is the best example of the “heart wrenching” effect.

Sixth song, Happy Market, has that fantasy feeling about it. A two beat melody beautifully written with a beautiful piano background.

Seventh, Flight Time, is the only somewhat upbeat song of the album. But at this point, for the rest of the songs, they just got boring and aren’t worth mentioning anymore.

Worth getting? Mmmaybe. But two years down the road I don’t think I will remember this album anymore. A valiant effort nonetheless.

Rating: 5 / 10

01.看完烟火再回去 (Kan Wan Yen Huo Zai Hui Qu / See The Fireworks Through)
02.男人女人 (Nan Ren Nu Ren / Man and Woman)
03.手写爱 (Shou Xie Ai / Handwritten Love)
04.我绝对不说我爱你 (Wo Jue Dui Bu Shuo Wo Ai Ni / I Will Never Say I Love You)
05.爱人动物 (Ai Ren Dong Wu / Loving Animal)
06.乐天市场 (Le Tian Shi Chang / Happy Market)
07.飞行时光 (Fei Xing Shi Guang / Flight Time)
08.爱情·进站 (Ai Qing, Jing Zhan / Love Arrives)
09.见过永远 (Jian Guo Yong Yuan / Having Seen Forever)
10.北纬六十六度 (Bei Wei Liu Shi Liu Du / Latitude 66 Degrees)

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