If you've
read any of my
previous Tata Young articles, you'll know that it's not easy for an Australian to support a little known Thai artist... well, little known in Australia anyway, from what I hear she has reached super-stardom in south east Asia.
As you can imagine, her latest studio album "One Love", is not available in Australian CD stores, nor is it available on iTunes - not that I was expecting it to be, to be honest. I did manage to find a copy of the album, otherwise this would be a pretty boring article. Granted, I wasn't able to purchase it (because of a little something I like to call the "It was impossible to do so factor"), but should Tata Young ever read this, rest assured next time I travel to Asia I will make an effort to search for a hard copy.
One Love is entirely in Thai. How convenient. Considering I don't speak a word of Thai. I wasn't too fussed, I've heard some of her other Thai songs, such as Dangerous (didn't like it) and Chun Ruk Ter (unmoved by it). Her English songs are great, I speak English. Her previous Thai songs have been well received by the Thai populations. See the link? I didn't have very high expectations for the new album, but I can see that I was pleasantly surprised.
I'm not going to pretend I understand the lyrics. Maybe it's a good thing, because judging by the album cover which contains one of the Paris Hilton-esque handbag dogs, the lyrics and meanings - I'd hazard a guess that they are all love songs or very close to it - may not be all that exciting.
To cut to the chase, all I can really evaluate is how each song sounds. Is the melody catchy, is there a decent backing, are there some nice phrases, etc, etc. The answer is yes to all of the above. Clearly, the standout song is One Love, a powerful ballad which prompted the name of the album. Because a picture is worth a thousand words (therefore a Youtube video must be worth a few million?) I suggest watching the music video at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16eYahXXfa4
Even if you don't like the style (which I like, incidentally), at least there is a pretty face to look at (which I also like).
An honourable mention needs to go to "Good Time", the English/Bollywood/Thai mashup which will probably be released as a single at some point in the coming months, while "I'll Be Your First, Your Last, Your Everything" is also single potential.
Cause of Sadness has already been released as a single.
In summary, it is a solid album, led by the song One Love, which quality wise I feel is comparable to any of her other major hits. It deserved better than #15 on the MTV Thailand chart. It's not in the same league as either of her English albums, but one must remember that I only speak English, so there is always going to be a bias towards those albums.
Track listing:
1. One Love
2. Boom Bam
3. Cause of Sadness
4. Good Time
5. Please
6. Kidding
7. Living Creature... Without A Heart
8. I'll Be Your First, Your Last, Your Everything
9. Unwind Wind
10. Our Home
Note: a cheerio to unjichan who posted
this Youtube video, the lad has obviously put a bit of effort into creating this English translation of One Love. Well done, mate!
Apologies for not submitting this album review on the first of the month as I have been in the past, but as it was April Fools I thought it would be best to post it later.
