Before Prince Mumbly of R&B Jay Chou, there was David Tao, the wind behind the revolutionary Mandarin R&B wave that swept many away in the late 90s.
People like me, brought up with
Angmo tunes thanks to Peranakan parents, liked his tight Westernized arrangements and snazzy melodies coupled with American-accented
cheena vocals. More than just a touch of East-meets-West perhaps, it made listening to Chinese music hip. Not soppy and nerdy =))
Born in Hong Kong and schooled in the US, David returns with his 5th Album, Beautiful.
The 12-tracks this time are classic Tao, nothing adventurous like his dabbling with Beijing opera in 2005's The Great Leap. Fans who are used to his style of R&B will feel safe on tracks like How Long and Finally. Then there are the obligatory soppy ballads like So Beautiful and the usual
ode-to-exGirlfriend (think Melody) in the form of Olia. Whoever she is! =))
On Marry Me Today, he teams up with SYT Jolin Tsai. Yes, breast-enhanced Ms Tsai who, gasp, sounds horribly raspy one second, and terribly cutesy the next. But catchy little tune nonetheless.
Although David doesn't have Prince Mumbly's brooding good looks and a rapper-styled R&B that appeals to the younger set, he certainly gets my vote for being a hugely talented songsmith who crafts some really nice tunes.
Beautiful is really quite, beautiful.