On occasion during my travels I make it a point to go to the local music store and see what the locals listen to. It’s a great way to find new artists and those that I would not necessarily have known otherwise.
While in Hong Kong, I did just that. Dropping into the HMV in Causeway Bay, I perused the aisle hoping to find that one artist that I would enjoy listening to. And that’s just what I did. Heading to the Classical and Jazz department of the store, I noticed this one singer on the featured artist list. Conveniently, one of her CDs was available to sample. I picked up the headphone and as soon as that voice sang its first note, I knew I just had to buy her album.
I stood there by the CD player, listening to Start from here, for what must have been a very long time as I slowly moved from one song to the next. I loved the fun arrangements of her songs, the mood it took me through, and most importantly, her voice. It was so captivating that I couldn’t stop myself from leaving the station.
There were two albums on sale: Start from here, and Joanna & ???. As I had already listened to the bulk of the former album, I decided to go for the latter. It was her sophomore album. I didn’t know it at the time. But seeing as I was so impressed with my sampling, I figured I could look forward to anything from her.
Joanna’s style of singing is rather interesting. It’s a mixture of various other artists that I can relate it with that makes her style… well, hers. Her lazy way of singing is reminiscent of Norah Jones. Yet her other songs give off a slight hint of Heather Nova, and possibly even some Sheryl Crow in another one of her songs. Joanna’s soft vocals are so soothing to listen to, somewhat similar to one of my Norwegian discoveries, Lene Marlin.
Combining all these vocal similarities into one singer, you get one unique and interesting artist to listen to. Who knew a Taiwanese artist would captivate me so much. Did I mention she sings in English too?
For more on Joanna, head to her web site: http://www.sonymusic.com.tw/pop/joannawang/
or to her YouTube channel, where she serenades us with her magical voice: http://www.youtube.com/user/jeminijem/
Tagged: artist, jazz, Joanna Wang, pop, Taiwanese
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2 Comments
I love her music too! I heard she’s moving back to the US and will no longer make Chinese music..
Really? I didn’t know that. Maybe we can look forward to more English songs from her then! What’s she going to do in the states anyway?