冰乐精灵 Peggy Hsu 首张全创作专集

Some background facts: she's 20 years old; went to Canada to further her studies when she was 15 years old; she was discovered when she posted two of her works "Balloons" and "Stood Up" online, of which the track "Balloon" reportedly attracted over 20,000 listening downloads! 

So it comes as no surprise that the first single from her debut album is the ballad title track "Balloons", which I'm sure would be best remembered as the song where the front part requires 56 Chinese lyrics-characters to be sung in one quick breath.

The second single "White Wedding" is another ballad which is a personal favourite of mine.  The song is best appreciated by watching the music video which is aptly and beautifully shot in Iceland.

All the tracks here are written by Peggy herself, and I must admit I'm impressed with the overall quality, considering she's only 20 years old.  While listening to her songs, she reminds me at times of another singer-songwriter Penny Tai (or Dai Pei Ni), both of their works are characterised by simple catchy melodies and lyrics dwelling on daily-life observations.  However maybe because of her age and ermm...my age differences, some of her lyrics come across as a bit "kiddy", such as "Stood Up" and "Shopping Mall".

Looking at the behind-the-scenes working list, some prominent names caught my attention.  The tracks are recorded in May Day's very own recording studio, May Day members like Ma Sha and Shi Tou also played in some of the songs, Mavis Fan Xiao Xuan chipped in to play the flute in "White Wedding" and Wang Pei Rong helped out in the vocals section.  

The first batch of the limited-edition album comes with a glossy photo booklet containing pictures of Peggy in Iceland.  But what I really wished for is a bonus VCD containing the MTV for "White Wedding".  Maybe I will get my wish fulfilled if Peggy's album does well in Taiwan as Taiwan record companies generally like to release new-editions when the album turns out to be a smashing success.  Speaking of success,  Peggy's boss Adam Hsu Chang De has even promised the Taiwan media a free trip to Iceland if her CD sells over 300,000 copies!

BACK TO TOP

Frankly, I was looking forward to a change in A Mei's music after experiencing an overall music quality drop in her successive albums with Forward Music.   And I'm glad to say that her first collaboration with Warner Music has renewed my interest and confidence in A Mei's future works.

Containing a mix of ballads, dance, acoustic folk and rock, many of the songs here make high-quality listening and they boast of karaoke chart-topping material.  Even the record company is confident, having given the go ahead for eight (!!) songs to be shot into music videos.  The first single "Reaction" is an infectious dance track while the second single "Remember" is a haunting ballad which is a personal favourite of mine (and hey, it's a local Singapore composition!).  In fact I must admit a few of her ballads here are rather stirring and moving, no doubt enhanced by her heartfelt performance as well as lyrics which deal with break-up issues (mirroring A Mei's recent real-life episode).

Her fans may be happy to know that the album contains a twelfth bonus track "Pai Shan Dao Hai" which is the Mandarin version of the movie theme-song of "Pearl Harbour" and was originally only found in the Taiwan edition of the movie sound-track album.  

On a final note, the first batch of the limited-edition album comes bundled with a bonus VCD containing the music videos of "Reaction" (shot in Spain) and "Remember".

BACK TO TOP

The album is produced locally by Kevin Quah (or Ke Gui Ming) and member Jim Lin Yi Xin, with most of the songs composed by Dreamz FM themselves.  A very strong 70s/80s Western flavour (reminiscent of Bee Gees) permeates the album, such as their first single "Guarding Star".

Most of the tracks here are mid-tempo and easy-listening.  Their vocal harmonisation and falsettos are in tip-top form.  However being not a huge fan of retro music, I am a bit disappointed with the album's overall music style.  For those fans who are hoping for another ballad along the line of their previous runaway hit "Not Worth It" (or Bu Zhi De), many of the slow tracks here do pale in comparison.   There seems to be a lack of "oomph" and punch in the songs.  

Another low point is that towards the end of the album, some redundant distractions which serve to break the flow of one's music listening pleasure, are in store for the unsuspecting listener.  An interlude track containing a boring and kinda irritating audio clip of their rehearsal and two conversation tracks which serve mainly to introduce the two bonus English numbers "Live It Up" (recorded for the National Volunteer Centre and for which Dreamz FM  were invited to perform live at the United Nations headquarters in New York earlier this June) and "The "V" In You" (performed for the Singapore Tourism Board).

BACK TO TOP