Let’s Start From Here

I found this CD when I was shopping around Taipei, Taiwan. The album, Let’s Start From Here was featured in the store, so I took a listen, and I was Pretty impressed. The voice of 王若琳 (Joanna Wang) was absolutely beautiful, to a point where it was a bit commercial — not necessary a bad thing. Nevertheless, the music presented here managed to captures senses of smooth and funky jazz. Instead of using big orchestra, sound samples, and lots of other noise that usually occupies a pop or rock album in Taiwan these days, 王若琳 instead opt for a small band, presenting a more intimate, and almost romantic take on jazz and pop — a rarity these days.

“Let’s Start From Here”, a fitting title to begin the album, a calm piece that talks about taking a chance and starting a relationship, a smart idea, as the soft background provides the perfect stage for 王若琳 to present her beautiful vocal. “Lost in Paradise” immediately provides a nice contrast to the album opener, offering a more flirty side of things (not to mention a fantastic Sax solo by Fabian Lim), as with “Bada Bada”. “As Love Begins to Mend” turns up the soft-rock side of things, and then of course, “Lost Taipei”, my favourite track, turns up the smooth jazz machine and offers a very romantic view on Taipei with the well written lyrics.

The album did feel a bit like it has lost its steam towards the end of the album, perhaps due to multiple slow ballads and blues being put together side by side, a better arrangement of the album would have upped the energy that it needed by the end. As well, the mediocre cover of David Tao’s “I Love You” seemed almost forced and was painfully out of place in the album. Nevertheless, tracks like “For No Reason”, “Stages of Flying” truly reveals 王若琳 as a poetic and fun artist.

Let’s Start From Here is a very solid debut from 王若琳, if you like smooth jazz, and other artists such as Vienna Teng, then you definitely will like 王若琳. I for one am very glad that something different has finally appeared in the music scene in Taiwan, and let’s hope 王若琳 continues to grace us with her wonderful music in her next album, whenever that may be.

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Let’s Start From Here
Giving up, Why should I, Have come too far to forget
Beautiful, Just got lost, Somewhere along the way
So much was missing when you went away
Let’s start from here, Lose the past, Change our minds
We don’t need a finish line
Let’s take this chance, Don’t think too deep
All those promises we couldn’t seem to keep
I don’t care where we go, Let’s start from here.

Standing here, Face to face, A finger on your lips
Don’t say a word, don’t make a sound, silence around us now
Even when you were gone I felt you everywhere

Let’s start from here

I’ve neverbeen the one to open up
But you’ve always been the voice within
The only one for my cold heart

Let’s start from here, Lose the past, Change our minds
We don’t need a finish line
Let’s take this chance, Don’t think too deep
All those promises we couldn’t seem to keep
I don’t care where we go, Let’s start from here.

Lost Taipei

Rain-drenched roads, Matching steps
Let-down hair, And someone’s laugher too

City lights, Oh the city sighs
Then loneliness, Lingers in the air

And so it’s said that I left my heart,
I left in a lost Taipei with you
Neon signs and midnight rides
The curve of your smile kisses joy
The curve of your smile kisses joy

Flowers bloom when you play
Can I have your autograph or something like that?
Come on, Come on Flowers bloom when you play
Oh don’t be so stingy now, I want it on my wall
Come on, Come on

Mothers weep, Lovers meet
Don’t make a sound, Close the door behind

Aimless souls, Oh wondering feet
They won’t go home, Waltz into the night

Come on, Come on, Flowers bloom when you play
Don’t be so stingy now, You know I want it bad
Yes you know that

I’ll be raising cattle, And then some sheep

Play the conga, And then some sleep