Janice Vidal, the R&B half of the Filipino-Chinese-Korean Vidal twins, has released her first English-language album, Morning. Vidal is far from a newcomer - she has released four Cantonese albums since 2004 when she wowed local radio audiences with her cover of a Leon Lai Ming song. There's no doubt she is talented but, despite singing in her native tongue, Morning is more likely to appeal to her current base of non-English-speakers than first-time listeners. Most of the tracks, like her voice, are saccharine.
On the title track, Vidal sings about longing for her boyfriend as soon as she wakes up. In the bossa nova song TV, she has a girlish crush on a TV star. Anti-drug anthem 999 was released in March, following the arrest of her sister Jill for drug possession. But rather than hitting hard, the track is bubbly and commercialised. But there are some gems. One of her favourites, Rainbow, is tinged with darkness due to lyrics like 'I remember a time when there were rainbows/Now we live in a time with darker skies'.
In Morning, Vidal sings higher and sweeter than before, but the mediocre lyrics underplay the vulnerability and strength she proved on earlier albums.