Young singer Phung Khanh Linh releases her second album 'Citopia' featuring her own songs of city pop, an old genre of Japanese pop music. (Photo from the singer’s Facebook page)Dozens of products, ranging from singles and albums to videos and concerts,have been recently released by young musicians such as Phung Khanh Linh, Amee,and Hoang Duyen.
Singer-songwriter Linh’s latest album Citopia featuresmelodies in city pop, a form of Japanese pop music with R&B and jazzinfluences that emerged in the late 1970s and peaked in the 1980s.
The album consists of 10 songs composed by Linh, sending messages of love andmotivation to people.
“My album is like a puzzle and people can see a part of themselves in a piece,”Linh told local media at the album’s release in HCM City in mid-November.
The 28-year-old musician recorded her album in Nashville, the US.
She invited English musician Steven Wilson, who has six Grammy Awardnominations, American mastering engineer Randy Merrill, who has worked withinternational artists such as Lady Gaga, Adele and Maroon 5, and producer andmulti-instrumentalist Josh Frigo to help make the album.
Linh also released MVs for five songs - CanGac Mua He (Sweet Summer), MuaHe 1994 (Summer 1994), Nam NgoaiGio Nay (After All), Dang Sau San Khau (MysticMoonlight), and Noi Co Giu Loi (Wordsof Wind) - on YouTube, earning around 456,000 views.
Singer-songwriter Phan Manh Quynh said Linh’s songs were attractive, makinglisteners feel relaxed.
Linh became popular among Vietnamese audiences after participated in thereality singing contest The Voice of Vietnam in 2015.
She released her debut album Yesteryear in2020, consisting of 13 of her own compositions, portraying love and women.
The album brought Linh two nominations for the year’s Best Album and Composerat the 2021 Devotion Awards, a leading music awards event presented by The Thao & Van Hoa (Sport &Culture) newspaper.
Meanwhile, young singers Duc Phuc, Amee and others are expected to sendVietnamese audiences back to their youth with new versions of 11 popular songsfrom the late 1990s and early 2000s.
Phuc released a remake of the song MotThoi Da Xa (One Time) composed by Truong Huy with lyrics by poet NguyenThanh Ha.
The song was first performed by pop star Phuong Thanh in 1998 and brought herfame.
“I was thinking about covering the song because Thanh’s original version is thebest, and I didn’t know how to make it different,” Phuc said, adding thatcomposer Khac Hung created a completely different version for him.
In the new version, Phuc performs with the support of an orchestral ensemble,while the original version was a rock ballad.
The Mot Thoi Da Xa MV earnedmore than 367,000 after two weeks on YouTube.
Phuc’s song is the first single from the album 90sHITS00sVIBES tocelebrate the 25th anniversary of Lan SongXanh (Blue Wave), a radio programme that promotes Vietnamese musicproduced by Radio the Voice of HCM City (VOH).
The organisers, VOH and YP Entertainment, have released four songs of thealbum, including Em Ve Tinh Khoi (MyLovely Girl) composed by Quoc Bao, KhungTroi Ngay Xua (Old Days) by Hoai An, and XeDap Oi (My Dear Bicycle) by Ngoc Le.
The remakes of these songs feature singers such as Hoang Duyen, Hoa Minzy, andAmee, who was named the ‘Best New Asian Artist Vietnam’ at the Mnet Asian MusicAwards (MAMA) 2020 in Seoul.
The MVs are available on Lan Song Xanh’sYouTube channel./.
VNA
