THESTRAITSTIMES life D9 Sia salvages rejected songs in new ...
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NEW YORK • For her first album since her breakthrough hit Chandelier, Sia is facing off on the charts against superstars Adele and Rihanna. And they are likely familiar with some of the songs – they were written for them. This Is Acting, the seventh album by the Australian singer known both for her distinctively soaring voice and her face-covering black-and-white wig, consists of tunes that she wrote, offered to other artists and, after deals fell through, salvaged. For her, the album is a multi- dimensional paradox. She is inter- preting her own songs, ones that are often highly personal. But they were intended to come from the hearts of others. The album’s first single, Alive, was meant for Adele’s blockbuster album 25. It matches the mood of 25, as Sia – playing the role of Adele – remi- nisces about her childhood and her survival into adulthood to a tune that opens with rich, dark piano chords before a rapid climax. Sia, speaking to Apple Music’s Beats 1 radio, said she was surprised Adele did not want Alive. “I thought this one was such a smash, but she just wasn’t feeling it,” she told host Zane Lowe, who described the album as playing “fantasy football with the world’s pop stars”. Sia similarly appears to channel Beyonce on the more inspirational Footprints, a string-backed, mid-tempo pop song that uses subtle spiritual imagery to describe salvation either by a partner or God. A more conventional pop ballad, Reaper, was co-produced by rap star Kanye West. Sia wrote Reaper and Cheap Thrills for Rihanna, who released her long-awaited album, Anti, last Wednesday. But the R&B superstar, whose new album focuses on inward-looking ballads, rejected them. Even giddier is Move Your Body, a club dance track Sia wrote for Shakira. The 40-year-old, whose real name is Sia Furler, had her start in the jazz scene of Adelaide and remains more of an indie singer. But she has become a major writer for pop stars, notably composing Rihanna’s 2012 world- wide hit Diamonds. Sia, who keeps her face hidden to preserve her anonymity, has strug- gled with addiction, a battle that figured prominently on her last album, 1000 Forms Of Fear, which came out in 2014. The album’s hit, Chandelier, an electropop ballad of a party girl’s alcohol-fuelled self- destruction, was nominated for Grammys for Song of the Year and Record of the Year. She returns to dark territory on the latest album by exploring abusive relationships. House On Fire is a metaphor for personal chaos. The similarly bleak Bird Set Free was written for Adele, who did not find it suitable. Speaking to Rolling Stone maga- zine, Sia said she thought most of her songs for pop stars were “terribly, terribly cheesy”. But she acknow- ledged that she knew a successful tune when she wrote one. “It really seems like the general public responds well to songs about salvation or overcoming some- thing, or that everything’s going to be okay, or that things are fun,” she said. “I think that my skill is more upbeat curating, as in choosing the right tracks and then sort of trying to understand the will or nature of popular culture.” AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE REVIEW / CONCERT SSO 37TH ANNIVERSARY CONCERT: EIN HELDENLEBEN Singapore Symphony Orchestra, Darrell Ang – conductor, Melvyn Tan – piano Esplanade Concert Hall Last Friday Mervin Beng The inclusion of 19-year-old Juilliard School junior year composition student Koh Cheng Jin’s Horizons For Orchestra in such a high-profile Singapore Symphony Orchestra concert is a bold move and a welcome signal to other aspiring Singaporean composers. The nine-minute work exudes a sense of adventure, opening with a chorale for string quartet, joined by percussion and orchestra with increasing intensity. A quiet section featuring solo violin follows, which gradually grows into a finale that brings back the opening theme. The work was an impressive debut for Koh, even if the finale did not fully deliver the exuberantly triumphant and optimistic conclusion that she described in her programme note. Since his time as the orchestra's young associate conductor, Darrell Ang has led the orchestra as guest conductor with considerable success. His focus and control throughout the opening work were sharp and confident, and the orchestra responded well to his direction. Pianist Melvyn Tan’s interpreta- tions of Mozart on fortepiano, the precursor to the modern grand piano, are world renowned. Performing Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 22 on a modern concert grand piano, he retained all the wit, sensitivity and character that audiences have come to love in his playing. Many great pianists have per- formed on the Esplanade's Stein- way, but none have come close to producing the unique crispness and nimble sound that came from his fingerwork and measured pedalling. He gave each movement of the concerto its own character, and there was an overall sense of grace and lightness of being that made it a special performance. Ang and the SSO provided very able accompaniment, although Tan’s liberties with tempo were occasionally challenging. The clarinet section, however, seemed oblivious to the playfulness that the soloist lent to the irrepressible final movement, consistently outplaying the piano and the rest of the orchestra. The tone poem Ein Heldenleben (A Hero’s Life) by Richard Strauss is a work that places huge demands on the conductor, with solo passages for principal violin that call for musi- cianship of the highest level. Concertmaster Igor Yuzefovich’s solos depicting the hero’s female companion were exceptional – expressive and beautifully phrased. Scored for eight horns, two tubas and three offstage trumpets, a strong reading of the piece requires much care and thought, and Ang had clearly prepared well for this performance. His growing maturity as a conductor shows and the steadiness with which he directed was impressive. Through the most demanding passages there was little wavering or loss of momentum, although the sound tended to harden in the loudest passages. Greater freedom in tempo and attention to orchestral balance from Ang would have made this performance even more compelling. Daringly programmed and featuring a spread of home-grown musical talent, this year’s SSO anni- versary concert was a bold, spirited concert to be proud of. REVIEW / CONCERT RHAPSODIES OF SPRING 2016 Singapore Chinese Orchestra The Star Theatre Last Saturday Chang Tou Liang Rhapsodies Of Spring is the Singa- pore Chinese Orchestra’s way of cele- brating Chinese New Year in concert, and, for the first time, it was per- formed in The Star Theatre. As with previous editions, the con- cert took on the form of a variety show and was hosted by television personality Marcus Chin. He and conductor Yeh Tsung displayed good chemistry in their playful banter in Mandarin, peppered with a few English phrases. There were no skits from radio personalities this year, but more music, which began with Li Huan Zhi’s Spring Festival Overture. This familiar work was accompa- nied by visuals of the orchestra pro- jected on a giant screen behind the stage and was soon overtaken by the entrance of the nine-member ZingO Festival Drum Group. Its synchronised drumming in Soar and Xu Chang Jun’s Dragon Dance was an impressive show of precision and togetherness. The first half was otherwise the Marcus Chin show. He had four costume changes and enthralled the aunties with his crooning in the Nostalgic Song Medley (arranged by Tan Kah Yong) and Mix Match Song Medley (Phang Kok Jun). He does not have an operatic voice for songs such as Man Chang Fei, Azaleas Bloom, Yue Qin and The Traveller With A Bamboo Pole, but his tenor comfortably scaled the heights with lots of personality and some dancing. The Chinese Folksong Medley curiously included a Russian song, Under The Shimmering Moonlight (but sung in Mandarin) and concluded with Radiant With Joy, rendered in an authentic Sichuan accent. Then the concert took on the feel of an episode from variety show Saturday Night Live. With the lights dimmed, the main orchestra dispersed, leaving behind the 16-strong SCO Pop Ensemble, which resembled and played like a jazz combo. TV Golden Medley (arranged by Law Wai Lun) revived melodies such as Striving (from local televi- sion serial The Awakening), Good Morning, Sir! and Kopi O. Suona principal Jin Shi Yi had a field day with his assorted reeds in the Taiwanese song Tian Hei Hei, alternating between jazzy riffs and Donald Duck imitations. Not to be outdone was Han Lei on guanzi in Beijing jazz pianist Kong Hong Wei's Summer Palace, with a stirring display that brought on loud cheers. The two-hour concert concluded by bidding farewell to the Year of the Goat and ushering in the Year of the Monkey. Wang Li Ping’s Shepherd Song gave way to Xu Jing Qing’s Gan Wen Lu Zai He Fang from Journey To The West, which saw Chin imitating the moves of the Monkey God. Joined by four women dancers, the glittery ensemble got the audience singing and clapping along to Sim Boon Yew’s Spring Suite VI. Have there been that many Chinese New Year songs in circulation? The Singapore Chinese Orchestra under Yeh has played them all. Sia salvages rejected songs in new album Singer Sia (above), who often hides her face (left) to preserve her anonymity, returns to dark territory on her latest album by exploring abusive relationships. PHOTOS: NEW YORK TIMES, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE Bold and spirited SSO concert featuring home-grown talent SSO’s anniversary concert was conducted by Darrell Ang (left) and featured pianist Melvyn Tan (standing). PHOTO: SSO Australian singer- songwriter’s seventh album, This Is Acting, features compositions she had written for stars such as Adele and Rihanna Glittery welcome for Chinese New Year | MONDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2016 | THE STRAITS TIMES | ● life D9
Transcript of THESTRAITSTIMES life D9 Sia salvages rejected songs in new ...
NEW YORK • For her first albumsince her breakthrough hitChandelier, Sia is facing off on thecharts against superstars Adeleand Rihanna. And they are likelyfamiliar with some of the songs –they were written for them.
This Is Acting, the seventh albumby the Australian singer knownboth for her distinctively soaringvoice and her face-coveringblack-and-white wig, consists oftunes that she wrote, offered toother artists and, after deals fellthrough, salvaged.
For her, the album is a multi-dimensional paradox. She is inter-preting her own songs, ones thatare often highly personal. But theywere intended to come from thehearts of others.
The album’s first single, Alive,was meant for Adele’s blockbusteralbum 25.
It matches the mood of 25, as Sia– playing the role of Adele – remi-nisces about her childhood and hersurvival into adulthood to a tunethat opens with rich, dark pianochords before a rapid climax.
Sia, speaking to Apple Music’sBeats 1 radio, said she was surprisedAdele did not want Alive.
“I thought this one was such asmash, but she just wasn’t feelingit,” she told host Zane Lowe, whodescribed the album as playing“fantasy football with the world’spop stars”.
Sia similarly appears to channelBeyonce on the more inspirationalFootprints, a string-backed,mid-tempo pop song that usessubtle spiritual imagery todescribe salvation either by apartner or God.
A more conventional pop ballad,Reaper, was co-produced by rapstar Kanye West.
Sia wrote Reaper and CheapThrills for Rihanna, who releasedher long-awaited album, Anti, lastWednesday. But the R&B superstar,whose new album focuses oninward-looking ballads, rejectedthem.
Even giddier is Move Your Body,a club dance track Sia wrote forShakira.
The 40-year-old, whose realname is Sia Furler, had her start inthe jazz scene of Adelaide andremains more of an indie singer.
But she has become a majorwriter for pop stars, notablycomposing Rihanna’s 2012 world-wide hit Diamonds.
Sia, who keeps her face hidden topreserve her anonymity, has strug-gled with addiction, a battle thatfigured prominently on her lastalbum, 1000 Forms Of Fear, whichcame out in 2014. The album’s hit,Chandelier, an electropop ballad ofa party girl’s alcohol-fuelled self-destruction, was nominated forGrammys for Song of the Year andRecord of the Year.
She returns to dark territory onthe latest album by exploringabusive relationships.
House On Fire is a metaphor forpersonal chaos.
The similarly bleak Bird Set Freewas written for Adele, who did notfind it suitable.
Speaking to Rolling Stone maga-zine, Sia said she thought most of hersongs for pop stars were “terribly,terribly cheesy”. But she acknow-ledged that she knew a successful
tune when she wrote one.“It really seems like the general
public responds well to songs aboutsalvation or overcoming some-thing, or that everything’s going tobe okay, or that things are fun,” shesaid.
“I think that my skill is moreupbeat curating, as in choosing theright tracks and then sort of tryingto understand the will or nature ofpopular culture.”AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
REVIEW/ CONCERT
SSO 37TH ANNIVERSARY CONCERT:EINHELDENLEBENSingaporeSymphony Orchestra,Darrell Ang – conductor,MelvynTan – pianoEsplanadeConcert HallLast Friday
Mervin Beng
The inclusion of 19-year-old JuilliardSchool junior year compositionstudent Koh Cheng Jin’s HorizonsFor Orchestra in such a high-profileSingapore Symphony Orchestraconcert is a bold move and awelcome signal to other aspiringSingaporean composers.
The nine-minute work exudes asense of adventure, opening with achorale for string quartet, joined bypercussion and orchestra withincreasing intensity. A quiet sectionfeaturing solo violin follows, whichgradually grows into a finale thatbrings back the opening theme. Thework was an impressive debut forKoh, even if the finale did not fullydeliver the exuberantly triumphantand optimistic conclusion that shedescribed in her programme note.
Since his time as the orchestra'syoung associate conductor, DarrellAng has led the orchestra as guestconductor with considerablesuccess. His focus and controlthroughout the opening work weresharp and confident, and theorchestra responded well to hisdirection.
Pianist Melvyn Tan’s interpreta-tions of Mozart on fortepiano, theprecursor to the modern grand piano,are world renowned. PerformingMozart’s Piano Concerto No. 22 on amodern concert grand piano, heretained all the wit, sensitivity andcharacter that audiences have cometoloveinhisplaying.
Many great pianists have per-formed on the Esplanade's Stein-way, but none have come close toproducing the unique crispness andnimble sound that came from hisfingerwork and measured pedalling.He gave each movement of theconcerto its own character, andthere was an overall sense of graceand lightness of being that made it aspecial performance.
Ang and the SSO provided veryable accompaniment, althoughTan’s liberties with tempo wereoccasionally challenging. Theclarinet section, however, seemedoblivious to the playfulness that
the soloist lent to the irrepressiblefinal movement, consistentlyoutplaying the piano and the restof the orchestra.
The tone poem Ein Heldenleben(A Hero’s Life) by Richard Strauss isa work that places huge demands onthe conductor, with solo passagesfor principal violin that call for musi-cianship of the highest level.Concertmaster Igor Yuzefovich’ssolos depicting the hero’s femalecompanion were exceptional –expressive and beautifully phrased.
Scored for eight horns, two tubasand three offstage trumpets, a strongreading of the piece requires muchcare and thought, and Ang had clearlyprepared well for this performance.His growing maturity as a conductorshows and the steadiness with whichhedirectedwasimpressive.
Through the most demandingpassages there was little wavering orloss of momentum, although thesound tendedtoharden in the loudestpassages. Greater freedom in tempoand attention to orchestral balancefrom Ang would have made thisperformanceevenmorecompelling.
Daringly programmed andfeaturing a spread of home-grownmusical talent, this year’s SSO anni-versary concert was a bold, spiritedconcert to be proud of.
REVIEW/ CONCERT
RHAPSODIESOF SPRING 2016
SingaporeChinese OrchestraTheStar TheatreLast Saturday
Chang Tou Liang
Rhapsodies Of Spring is the Singa-poreChinese Orchestra’s way ofcele-brating Chinese New Year in concert,and, for the first time, it was per-formedin TheStar Theatre.
As with previous editions, the con-cert took on the form of a varietyshow and was hosted by televisionpersonality Marcus Chin.
He and conductor Yeh Tsungdisplayed good chemistry in theirplayful banter in Mandarin, pepperedwith a few English phrases. Therewere no skits from radio personalitiesthis year, but more music, whichbegan with Li Huan Zhi’s SpringFestivalOverture.
This familiar work was accompa-nied by visuals of the orchestra pro-jected on a giant screen behind thestage and was soon overtaken bythe entrance of the nine-member
ZingO Festival Drum Group.Its synchronised drumming in
Soar and Xu Chang Jun’s DragonDance was an impressive show ofprecision and togetherness.
The first half was otherwise theMarcus Chin show. He had fourcostume changes and enthralled theaunties with his crooning in theNostalgic Song Medley (arranged byTan Kah Yong) and Mix Match SongMedley (Phang Kok Jun). He doesnot have an operatic voice for songssuch as Man Chang Fei, AzaleasBloom, Yue Qin and The TravellerWith A Bamboo Pole, but his tenorcomfortably scaled the heights withlots of personality and some dancing.
The Chinese Folksong Medleycuriously included a Russian song,Under The Shimmering Moonlight(but sung in Mandarin) andconcluded with Radiant With Joy,rendered in an authentic Sichuanaccent.
Then the concert took on the feelof an episode from variety showSaturday Night Live. With the lightsdimmed, the main orchestradispersed, leaving behind the16-strong SCO Pop Ensemble,which resembled and played like a
jazz combo.TV Golden Medley (arranged by
Law Wai Lun) revived melodiessuch as Striving (from local televi-sion serial The Awakening), GoodMorning, Sir! and Kopi O.
Suona principal Jin Shi Yi had afield day with his assorted reeds inthe Taiwanese song Tian Hei Hei,alternating between jazzy riffs andDonald Duck imitations. Not to beoutdone was Han Lei on guanzi inBeijing jazz pianist Kong Hong Wei'sSummer Palace, with a stirringdisplay that brought on loud cheers.
The two-hour concert concludedby bidding farewell to the Year ofthe Goat and ushering in the Year ofthe Monkey.
Wang Li Ping’s Shepherd Songgave way to Xu Jing Qing’s Gan WenLu Zai He Fang from Journey To TheWest, which saw Chin imitating themoves of the Monkey God. Joined byfour women dancers, the glitteryensemble got the audience singingand clapping along to Sim BoonYew’s Spring Suite VI.
Havethere beenthatmany ChineseNew Year songs in circulation? TheSingapore Chinese Orchestra underYehhasplayedthemall.
Sia salvagesrejected songsin new album
Singer Sia(above), whooften hides herface (left) topreserve heranonymity,returns to darkterritory on herlatest albumby exploringabusiverelationships.PHOTOS: NEW YORK
TIMES, AGENCE
FRANCE-PRESSE
Bold and spirited SSO concertfeaturing home-grown talent
SSO’sanniversaryconcert wasconducted byDarrell Ang (left)and featuredpianist MelvynTan (standing).PHOTO: SSO
Australian singer-songwriter’sseventh album, ThisIs Acting, featurescompositions shehad written forstars such as Adeleand Rihanna
Glittery welcome for Chinese New Year
| MONDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2016 | THE STRAITS TIMES | ● life D9
