LP / CD / DL
8 / 10
23 June 2017
Review by The Unarmed Bandit
Chinese electro pop act releases her new album.
I have had very little exposure to the music coming out of
China but if Dingwei is the benchmark, I’ll be finding out a bit more. Her
music falls into the electro category, underpinned by some gorgeous classical
overtones. Once you add in a voice that transfixes you, the result is amazing.
For the uninitiated, the sound is reminiscent of The
Cardigans, but this is a little bit of a disservice to Dingwei who seems to be
taking the genre to new places. I would highly recommend listening to this with
high quality headphones or through an amazing surround sound system. The
subtleties are the thing that separates this from the competition.
Moving on to individual song recommendations is a very
difficult thing. Each track is a joy to listen to and despite (or possibly
because of) the language barrier, your senses are heightened to every change in
rhythm or cadence. However, as part of my job is to make such recommendations,
I will say Gypsy is the track to get yourself acquainted with Dingwei. There
are two versions of the track on the album. The first is the Chinese version
which starts with minimal instrumentation and a hypnotic vocal line before
being lifted up with a gorgeous string arrangement. On the second version, the
dynamic is still there but if the translation is correct, it gives an
interesting insight into her mind. It also lends some credibility to her
stature in the music world when it’s Suzanne Vega who adds the English vocal in
an amazingly good match for the lyrics.
All in all, it has been a fantastic experience getting to
know Dingwei through this album but it now means I have to search for her
previous albums just to put Untied into context. That’s my excuse anyway.
A genuinely amazing album.
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