After a break to prepare for her role as mother, Canto-pop singer Kay Tse On-kay has come back strong and loud with a greatest hits album that marks her ascendance to the stars.
A University of Hong Kong graduate, Tse's singing career began with an inter-school singing competition in 2003 when her versatile vocals attracted the attention of songwriter Adrian Chou, who has become the singer's long-term collaborator.
Yet it was not until 2006 that her singing career began to blossom, with more people recognising her outstanding singing ability and tipping her as the forerunner of a new breed of 'non-idol' Canto-pop singer.
'I guess many people see me as a newcomer because I was not accepted by the general public before,' says Tse, whose previous albums were very well received by critics and DJs but didn't win her too many fans.
'Things began to change with the release of my new album. Many people who bought my latest album were people who didn't know me before.'
The new album 3/8 is an introduction and testimony to Tse's talents. It is also an autobiographical album in a sense that the title song reflects Tse's current state of mind as a 30-year-old woman. She had her baby son James with her singer-songwriter husband Louis Cheung Kai-chung last year.