#32: Take it eaZy, HowZ's Cool and Flirty UKG
on the R&B singer/rapper's sleek and stylish pivot to dance music for his latest EP
What can I say, apologies for the short issue, working on something fun. Wrote about the new UK Garage-y EP from HowZ, as well as singles from SHOU, Serrini, and Default. But there’s also a handful of more great records from this month that I couldn’t find the time to write more about down at the end.
HowZ - Take it eaZy
“Butter” proved HowZ to be one of the smoothest operators in Taiwan—it’s a testament to the singer’s voice that despite its dedication to “cream and butter” as a metaphor, he still sounds slick over its slowly churning guitar line. Since his breakout single, he’s proved to be a more versatile artist, switching between that trademark smoothness in flirty come-ons and half-rapped boasts over subdued trap beats. His latest EP, Take it eaZy, sounds like the sharpest version of his artistry and these five tracks are a multi-faceted projection of his R&B-craft.
“Better Things” sounds most familiar on first glance. Accompanied by the melancholy of a lounge-y piano line, HowZ takes a detached yet hopeful perspective to a breakup: “we moving on to better things / I won’t forget the scenes with you,” he murmurs. Chasing that prospect, “Better Things” morphs; a rigid drum beat kicks the track to life without detaching itself from the misery of its evocative piano line, but its final venture into Jersey club manages to mask the heartache. “Maybe giving up something will make you stronger,” HowZ sings, so frank that it sounds like a promising outlook.
The plainspoken nature of HowZ’s English lyrics makes Take it eaZy feel approachable. “Wonderland” is rich with both suggestive and explicit details of lust—“I want to catch your shadow / follow the traces of sweat into this forest,” he sings in Mandarin—but in English, he projects that raw desire: “I fucking want it / you are my wonderland,” he sings, so easygoing that it sounds more passionate than crass. Alongside the up-and-down motions of its beat, HowZ’s fluctuation between emotion and action makes it such a sensual escapade. “Wonderland” takes a hot and heavy approach to UK Garage but the stylish highligt “Icon” is more club-ready. With an icy bassline, sharp synths, and stuttered vocals, HowZ’s exultant rapping fits attractively within its flashy interior.
HowZ works better than ever on these electronic textures. He pops across the nostalgic and bright video game instrumental of opener “If You Ever,” which brightens its sentimental nature, while closer “Black Swan” is filled with braggadocious bars that glide on its futuristic beat. There’s a marked contrasts between these ends: smooth then coarsely sharp; generously romantic then self-confident. In the tight space of Take it eaZy, HowZ bridges these ends, showcasing a more explorative side on his most luminous project yet.
Find it on streaming here: Apple Music // Spotify
Singles: “WONDERLAND” // “BETTER THINGS” // “BLACK SWAN” // “IF YOU EVER”
SHOU - “Runner Runner”
The draw to SHOU’s latest single is very obviously the music video, a perfect homage to Stephen Chow’s Chow Sing-cho from the 1990 film God of Gamblers II, but “Runner Runner” is the most charming SHOU single in a while. It’s got some of his best bars: “speaking of the truth, don’t take it to heart / I envy you less than I’d envy a dog” and “everything is possible in dreams / I’ll lend you my life to meditate on.” A beat that seems to just plink into action, a hook that’s just loopy enough to make you wobble, “Runner Runner” is an absolute headrush.
Serrini - “Le Soleil”
Serrini compressed herself into the image of adult contemporary balladry for her entry into the Mandarin market, dropping the sleek, sophisticated synthpop of her last Cantonese project. While GWENDOLYN explored cybernetics and the experience of womanhood, her first Mandarin album, 真美 (Truly Beautiful) is about the well-worn topic of love. “Le Soleil” isn’t much of a pivot from that space—still an adult contemporary ballad, still about the expression of love—but it’s perhaps her most gorgeous offering yet. The piano line moves like a ray of sunlight trailing across the water, as if an extension of the spa instrumentals she made for GWENDOLYN, before it climaxes in a grand exhale over carefree drums, basking under the light. It’s a graceful moment of radiance.
Default - “家的故事”
On their latest album, shoegaze mainstays Default are no longer really shoegaze. Newer vocalist Edine sounds more suited to the sort of airy folk rock of 共同的土地 (Common Ground) than the dense wall-of-sound they were creating anyway. She makes a more hopeful turn on the highlight, “家的故事” (“Stories of the Family”), through the hardships: “was certain the misfortunes last longer and luck was only temporary / but when the sun passed through the moon, it also penetrated my cold-blooded heart.” While Edine recounts the passage of time in faded scars and dusty mugs, the intertwined emotions of regret and gratitude are better expressed outside of the words: in the soft sighs of the brass section, in the delicately performed guitar melody, and in every untethered, wispy coo.
Extra Listening
Similar to Default, 右侧河流 (YouCeHeLiu on Bandcamp or Right Together on YouTube) move away from their formerly defining sound of math rock on their latest album, 宇宙幼儿园 (Cosmic Kindergarten). It remains equally playful—perhaps the most thrilling moment is on “凭空想象一艘飞船” (“Imagine a Spaceship out of Thin Air”), where vocalist and bassist Lin Jiahong shouts “I can feel it!” atop its glaring synthpop—but hops across genres, bringing that asymmetry throughout their experiments in mixing math rock with everything from electronic to space rock. Though, some experiments are more successful than others, 宇宙幼儿园 is bright, charming indie-rock.
It’s been six years since their last album, in which time the three members of SmashRegz have grown to become prolific in their own right: TroutFresh has become one of the more well-known rappers of Taiwan, Chang Wu’s a fairly sought-after lyricist and a better rapper than TroutFresh, and SJIN is basically responsible for every time you hear a talkbox pop up in Mandopop. Lead single “三倍?” (“Three Times?”) announced their return in characteristically goofy style and their new album, 三不管 (Unregulated) constantly toes the line between playfully mischievous and idiotic. It’s especially a wonder how that talkbox never really reaches annoyance.
The debut Hogan T. (Zou Xu) album, Loose Faucet, is also great. He likens the process to capturing all the feelings that trickled through you over time, no big bursts of emotion but just the gentle descent into exhaustion. It spans electronic, funk, soul, hip-hop, and more, with one highlight being rappers Flowstrong—strange aside but Hogan T. and Flowstrong did this remix of a Kimbra track for some contest that caught her attention— and someshiit on “Way/Wait.”
New Midnight Ping Pong album coming tomorrow on Airhead Records. The statement from their record solely on Threads reads that it’s loud and you shouldn’t expect anything to have changed from their last album. Given that it was one of the best of the decade, that’s fun!
Jiao Maiqi’s new album, At the Pool, is coming November 13. Been really enamoured by the singles which show an older viewpoint of romance compared to his debut.
Find the latest Canto Wrap and Mando Gap playlists on Spotify and me on Twitter here.