Too Deep in Her Role
(Leader Records)
from 8 Days by Louis Sung
| Two years have lapsed since Kit Chan released
a Mandarin album. And expectations are inevitably high. And does it live up to its hype?
My answer is a guarded Yes. Sure, Kit's technique has never been more mature, and her nasal enunciation, so grating in Cantonese, is kept under control here. The tunes, while not exactly sublime, are of consistent, passable quality. But something's badly amiss when the most outstanding track is a translated number -- the Mandarin version of 'Keep Waiting and Waiting', the song from Snow.Wolf.Lake. The crux of the matter is: the entire concept, from title, album packaging to song selection, appears to ride unbashedly on Kit's stage achievements. Yet, nothing about the music itself is particularly dramatic or theatrical. I'm sorry, but listening to the album alone does nothing to impress me that Kit is 'Too Deep in Her Role', so to speak. Rather, what it betrays is a calculated move on the part of the record company to milk something which isn't there. Kit is a wonderful singer. Just put top-notch compositions -- such as her recent hit, 'Home' -- in her capable hands and the rest will take care of itself. |