Maybe 10 years ago was not a bad place to start?
Except for a couple songs, this
album seems reserved for the other-worldly; from a haunting, lonely walk to a cemetery, to a wandering spirit searching in vain, to love in the after life...
... Mai anh chết dưới cội đào
Khóc anh xin nhỏ lệ vào thiên thu.
-- "Động Hoa Vàng," Phạm Thiên Thư (Have been humming those two stanzas the past few days. Just love PTT's poems. BTW, what's with us Viets and love and death, anyway? Why can't we love and live happily ever after?)
The good:Being a "bottom line" kind of guy, I was immediately taken by Duy Cường's liberal and deliberate use of bass and percussion instruments. For the majority of the songs, he turned what are simple 3/4 or 4/4 beats into interesting rhythmic progressions: the intro to "Đừng Bỏ Em Một Mình," for example, seems to echo the cacophony of "...tiếng chày, tiếng búa nện đinh." And, those great bass lines in the intro to "Hẹn Hò" and the bridge of "Yêu Tinh Tình Nử!"
What is it about wine being better with age? So is Thái Hiền. Her voice has matured, without loosing its melodic, lilting quality. I can definitely hear the pain in "Hẹn Hò" and "Đua Em Tìm Động Hoa Vàng" without it being overly dramatic. She does nothing fancy, mind you; however, in articulating the lyrics and staying with the melody as written, she puts the focus on them, and allow them to do what they are intended to. Of course, I just love how she does "Yêu Tinh Tình Nử." The song, so far as I was concerned, was exclusively Julie's (note the past tense). Now, I am not sure; Thái Hiền "paints" such haunting images with her voice and articulation. The only thing lacking is, her voice does not have the dark tone of Julie's. (Cheap shot here, but maybe her lil cousin can learn a thing or two from her...)
The bad:Not really a bad song, but "Khoi Tinh Truong Chi" does nothing for me. Neither the accompaniment nor the male voice (Tuấn Ngọc?) really do anything special. Just kinda "blah!" Maybe that's why it's buried (pun fully intended!) in the middle of the album? Also, the last song, "Làm Sao Mà Quên Được," seems out of characters with the rest of the album's. I like the fact that Duy Cường makes a bossa nova out of it with the upbeat rhythm. It's just too happy of an ending to an otherwise dark, melancholy album.
The ugly:None!
So, IMHO:It's a four-and-a-half-ducky performance for Thái Hiền.
No duckies for Duy Cường's arrangement, 'cuz it's a real swan!
(Thanks for the
listen, Donny!)
