Originally Sandy

Original Colour (2005) - Sandy Lam
本色 (2005) -林憶蓮

You know you're a diva in high demand if the market is constantly flooded with greatest hits and best of packages every time you release a new album. Such is the case for one of my favourite female artist, Sandy Lam.

After a long 3 year hiatus, she released <本色> late last year, back by a highly popular tour which is still ongoing. When you buy this product, what you’re going to get is … simply beautiful music. No fancy packaging, no bonus DVDs, stickers, note pads or whatever music companies feel like dishing out with CDs these days. The encouraging thought with Sandy releases is that … there’s yet to be seen where a CD has been re-released to try and cash in.

Now, onto the music, 10 brilliantly crafted musical pieces. First single, the album track <本色> is one of the upbeat tracks, being a Korean cover, one can’t help but feel slightly disappointed, thinking, it’s her first Cantonese release in 10 years, and all she could come up with for the leading track is a cover. However, second single <為何他會離開你> is definitely Sandy’s forte. As a mid-tempo ballad, it is heartfelt, simple and elegantly sung. Two other tracks made it onto the radio <不敢奢想改變你> and <再見悲哀>, both being mellow but unforgettable pieces.

It’s a wonderful blessing to be able to hear Sandy sing in Cantonese once again and made me realised how much I’ve missed it over the last ten years. She has teased us with the “Encore” EP and thrown in a Cantonese track here and there for good measure, but nothing quite rewarding as this. Her singing is top notch. The pronunciation is precise, clear and effortlessly pleasant to the ear.

Overall, the album is ballad heavy, with 2 main upbeat tracks. However, it is very cleverly sequenced with a mixture of other musical genres thrown in between. It reminds me of her <2001蓮> in the sense that the album is finished before you realize it. Discounting the silent gap between the last track and the special spoken message explaining why the opening track “Incomplete” has no lyrics, the album just falls short of 40 minutes, but most Chinese albums are short in length, and the quality more than makes up for it. Here’s hoping I don’t have to wait another 10 years for the next full length Cantonese album!

Tracklist:
01. Incomplete
02. 沒結果之後
03. 還是我 還是你
04. 時光本是無罪
05. 為何他會離開你
06. 本色
07. 不敢奢想改變你
08. 聆聽
09. 夜有所夢
10. 再見悲哀