The C-pop/M-pop Discussion 3rd Thread

[orbitalaspect]

Tanya's Kisses to the World is great. I can't get over how bad the cover is, but the entire album is pure gold. Such a great return for her after Aphasia in 2015 and having put out Cherished as a single. I can hear that she's really settled into this as her "sound" for now. And it's all great.

Heard Jolin's Guai Meide, and it's an interesting track. Jolin's clearly moved into a deeply artistic space with this album, trying to merge pop music with more creative and philosophical effort. I like the title track so far. It's a far cry from the sheer talent she displayed on MUSE though. But I'm curious. It's been 4 and a half years since Pei. I want Jolin to nail this release.

I'm holy hell excited for Sandy Lam's new album. The last I heard from her was Gaia in 2012. I loved her recent collab with aMEI. Also, I'm sad that aMEI doesn't appear to be willing to do another back-to-back album release. I still listen to Story Thief like it was just released. I loved the whole concept. I'd love for her to expand on Story Thief with another album of more mid-tempo/upbeat songs to complement it.

I need to check out Cheer Chen's album. And I loved the first of GEM's trilogy releases, but listening to the songs, it sounds like they came from the same recording sessions she did for HEARTBEAT. It's been 3 years. I'd like her to try a different chord structure and show some sonic evolution. It's not bad music; it's just not "great" for 3 years since HEARTBEAT. And let's not forget that HEARTBEAT was pretty divisive for her.

Also thoughts and prayers going out for Elva to make a return soon. She's all but disappeared from social media over the last several months. She was rumored to be working on a new album, but fell ill. She hasn't been very active this year, and it's already been four years since Shut Up & Kiss Me... which, again, was a divisive album. I miss Elva a lot.

Also, can Show please just pose shirtless?! He's always teasing. And I love him to pieces.

[Linoa62]

Originally Posted by orbitalaspect

Tanya's Kisses to the World is great. I can't get over how bad the cover is, but the entire album is pure gold. Such a great return for her after Aphasia in 2015 and having put out Cherished as a single. I can hear that she's really settled into this as her "sound" for now. And it's all great.

I'm listening to it, I love it ! From what I read, Tanya had depression for the past few years, which is why her music was depressing according to her own words. She feels better now, and is releasing a brighter album this time to apologize to her fans for releasing such depressing music before. That's not what she wants to leave behind. That's why this album is more joyful and full of hope, and why the album has a playful cover.

Originally Posted by orbitalaspect

I'm holy hell excited for Sandy Lam's new album. The last I heard from her was Gaia in 2012. I loved her recent collab with aMEI. Also, I'm sad that aMEI doesn't appear to be willing to do another back-to-back album release. I still listen to Story Thief like it was just released. I loved the whole concept. I'd love for her to expand on Story Thief with another album of more mid-tempo/upbeat songs to complement it.

0 is on Spotify. Looks like this album only had a digital release... I haven't seen any pre-order on YesAsia or 5music for her.
aMEI has huge problems finishing Utopia 2.0 DVD/BD so producing a full album lol She also took some holidays this year, because her mother had cancer.

Originally Posted by orbitalaspect

I need to check out Cheer Chen's album. And I loved the first of GEM's trilogy releases, but listening to the songs, it sounds like they came from the same recording sessions she did for HEARTBEAT. It's been 3 years. I'd like her to try a different chord structure and show some sonic evolution. It's not bad music; it's just not "great" for 3 years since HEARTBEAT. And let's not forget that HEARTBEAT was pretty divisive for her.

It's on Spotify as well !
G.E.M, well, I have to agree with you. The 1st EP was good, but the others ones felt overall like a (bad) copy of the 1st one. And very sad that she dropped the Snow White concept for Woke because she was not satisfied with the MV.

Originally Posted by orbitalaspect

Also thoughts and prayers going out for Elva to make a return soon. She's all but disappeared from social media over the last several months. She was rumored to be working on a new album, but fell ill. She hasn't been very active this year, and it's already been four years since Shut Up & Kiss Me... which, again, was a divisive album. I miss Elva a lot.

Lots of mystery behind her condition but it looks like she snapped psychologically and physically during her album production because of the pressure she put on herself. It may still take some time, but I hope she will recover soon.

Originally Posted by orbitalaspect

Also, can Show please just pose shirtless?! He's always teasing. And I love him to pieces.

LOL

[orbitalaspect]

Originally Posted by Linoa62

I'm listening to it, I love it ! From what I read, Tanya had depression for the past few years, which is why her music was depressing according to her own words. She feels better now, and is releasing a brighter album this time to apologize to her fans for releasing such depressing music before. That's not what she wants to leave behind. That's why this album is more joyful and full of hope, and why the album has a playful cover.

Aphasia and Cherished really touched me. I first heard Cherished and loved the calm introspective feel of the song. Aphasia completely blew me away. It was a very powerful record filled with beautiful production and a lot of powerful words. I'm glad Kisses to the World keeps so much of that sound but uses more vibrant colors. I went driving last night while listening to the middle part of the album and it's the perfect soundtrack for a midnight drive.

Originally Posted by Linoa62

0 is on Spotify. Looks like this album only had a digital release... I haven't seen any pre-order on YesAsia or 5music for her.
aMEI has huge problems finishing Utopia 2.0 DVD/BD so producing a full album lol She also took some holidays this year, because her mother had cancer.

aMEI is really the only artist apart from Jay Chou that can take her sweet time between releases and doesn't have to make a deep effort to have a successful release. I love seeing her perform though. So, I'm OK with the wait if she's actually bringing a tour to wide release. My favorite aspect of aMEI is how amazing her personality is. I don't usually have strong emotional reactions to people, but watching aMEI prance around at the end of the video she did with Andrea Bocelli for If Only just made me feel so thankful for her existence.

Originally Posted by Linoa62

It's on Spotify as well !
G.E.M, well, I have to agree with you. The 1st EP was good, but the others ones felt overall like a (bad) copy of the 1st one. And very sad that she dropped the Snow White concept for Woke because she was not satisfied with the MV.

I'd love for G.E.M. to leave the western sound for this next project. There's so much beautiful Chinese mythology and folklore she could use for this concept that would be much more creative and beloved. She's extremely talented, but I feel like she needs to meet with Jolin and get a sense for how to effectively cross an artistic experience with pop music. I feel Jolin has gotten so good at merging the two since she started working on MUSE. And G.E.M. feels like she's played in the pop music playground for long enough, just doing standard releases, trying a new thing here and there... it'd be amazing to see her release something on the level of Jolin's upcoming album.

Originally Posted by Linoa62

Lots of mystery behind her condition but it looks like she snapped psychologically and physically during her album production because of the pressure she put on herself. It may still take some time, but I hope she will recover soon.

I read some years ago that Elva was really down that fans were divided over whether Shut Up & Kiss Me was a good album. I personally loved the album, but genuinely felt it would have been more accepted if Elva was still releasing new music every year. A lot of the criticism I read, and somewhat agreed with, was that it had been 3 years since Wo Ai Wo, and for all that time, it sounded like it could have been released a year after Wo Ai Wo.

I personally think an Elva song of her making random noises into a microphone for 3 minutes would be great. I don't care if her PVs are her doing random dance moves while doing fish lips and crossing her eyes. I just love what she does. I'll look forward to it. But I do feel she's not so much a concept artist. She's someone whose albums are great for the moment and memorable for what they were when they came out. I still love Ms. Elva. I still love Wo Ai Wo. But I love them for being good music, not for being some higher expression of art. The more Elva we can get, the better.