Faye Wong (EMI)
It is said that Faye Wong works much harder on her Putonghua titles than the Cantonese ones. So listening to this double-disc set - one in each language - should help to clear this up.
It has been a year since Wong's last album, Fable, a quality long-player that included five of the diva's own compositions. Fans hoping for collaborations with long-term, Beijing-based music partner and producer Zhang Yadong, will be disappointed to discover neither has penned a track here.
The Putonghua album is better than the five-track Cantonese disc in all departments - song selection, arrangement and vocals. Zhang's shoes have been filled by the lesser-known Kubert Leung, who has collected songs from different genres that allow Wong to show off her singing styles.
Her strongest performances come on the fast-paced opening rock track Wings Of Light and, later, Idiot. But her more gentle side also shines through on Suddenly This Year and To Meet Not To Meet. She combines both styles in the incredible, Russian-influenced Wandering Red Dancing Shoes. The songs were written by Taiwanese rock star Wu Bai, producer Leung and newcomer Jin Wulun.
Sadly, there's no such high-standard fare on the Cantonese disc, which is full of old-fashioned Canto-pop tunes. It's best to skip Vertigo, composed by Wong's boyfriend Nicholas Tse. Similarly, Colour Blind, produced by Anthony Wong Yiu-ming, has a good melody but sounds dated, as does Singapore singer/songwriter Tanya Chua's The Queen's New Dress.