Canto Wrap #2: June 2021 - November 2021
the best Cantopop from Serrini's pretend faint of a track to melodic emo-rap to starry pop that makes do with astrology
Hi, welcome to this half of the year’s Canto Wrap, a series highlighting some of the best Cantopop singles from this half of the year. Before we get into it, I want to recommend this Vice article on underground Hong Kong music, a series of four short playlists covering experimental, rap, rock, and indie-pop from Hong Kong. Here’s also a Spotify playlist of mine with some Cantopop from June to now. Check that out and also check out ten great Cantopop singles from the past six months:
Gigi - “LOVELOST”
Everything is a bit sedated on “LOVELOST.” She’s a broken shell of herself, sullen and doomed one moment, acidic and angry the next, spending all her time haunted, wondering why all that remains is just pain and sorrow. The synths float around like ghostly shadows and Gigi sounds like she’s moving on autopilot, her voice glazed and her words bitter with regret. “Tell me what is love, tell me what is trust, do you know?” she asks, the words sounding foreign to her.
see also: “Midnight Romance”
Gladys Li - “Missing Something”
Chinese dramas so often tease the second male lead but rarely ever let the storyline go down the path. But here, Gladys Li walks down the perfect path, seeing what should be bliss but feeling the holes where nothing sparks. On the simple starry ballad, she wonders “why do I feel anxious when I’m with you?” The conclusion is inevitable, the reason the second lead never gets his chance: “I almost love you, so I don’t,” almost never being enough to make the relationship work.
Jamie Zhang - “最後的黃昏”
“It’s in the little things and I’m just following the flow.” Every day can feel like the same routine, wake at seven, work, then the train home. But “最後的黃昏” (“Last Nightfall”) is all about the little things, the day-to-day subtleties you miss when you only take the whole, like the saxophone that you gloss over or the dings and finger-snaps that make its danceable groove. Zhang slides across it, choosing to only focus on what she can change, the things that make each day special, like a salon cut from home or takeout fried chicken and bubble tea.
Serrini - “I’m Fine, Thx.”
The opening feints you with its loungey saxophone but “I’m Fine, Thx.” is the musical equivalent of a pretend faint—you don’t even need to imagine Serrini doing the hand-over-the-head deep sigh when she gives it right to you in one of the best music videos of the year. “I’m Fine, Thx.” is all about pretending, and like any good attention-getter, Serrini goes over-the-top with it, making sure that all eyes stay on her. She drags the melody like she’s entering an event, empties a perfect drum fill before taking back the stage on the second verse, and throws a robotic “I’m fine thank you, very mature” in case you actually started to believe her. Did you expect anything less from the woman who showed up in the furry pink car?
see also: “我在流浮山滴眼水.jpg”
Terence Lam - “難道喜歡處女座”
The first version was better. The second—a romantic piano and orchestral version that came with an official music video, a cover with Lam’s face on it, and an alternate English title “Alter Ego”—is the one being pushed but the first version was more animated, in more ways than one. The lyrics are the same, equal parts pessimism and optimism as he lists his faults on account of being a Virgo and hopes they won’t be dealbreakers, but there are differences in where that hope lies. Where the dramatic swell of “Alter Ego” suggested one night saved from loneliness, “難道喜歡處女座” (“Could It Be You Like a Virgo”) comes with a plinky instrumental that sounds like the cheap starry depths of astrology, the hope that comes with a good forecast, even if the same hope isn’t within your immediate grasp.
TomFatKi - “Hate”
The trio TomFatKi initially started as vloggers but when they took to making music, they hopped onto emerging Internet trends, sounds that were just starting to catch on in Hong Kong: hip-hop. Previous singles showed an amateurishness, overshadowed by featured guests or sounding a little too jokey but “Hate” makes the formula work. Rapper Tom’s feeble “everybody hates me” works as a hook, growing into something, not really respectable, but louder and higher like an anthemic until it threatens to sound too true. What keeps “Hate” alive is that mellow guitar line, constantly humming its circular rhythm, keeping the track rolling throughout.
Vibration - “Straddle the Seas (feat. D.M. Charmaine)”
“Straddle the Seas” recalls retro synth flair but roots itself distinctly in modern sensibilities. It allows itself to peek back on the past but keeps its attention forward, attempting to force a smile even when things get difficult. And if that doesn’t work, it’ll throw a little pep your way with a timely whoop, hoping you’ll pass it along.
Ying Chi Yuet - “Ophiuchus”
Running through the astrological signs, drawing a story of the lion, the archer, and more, “Ophiuchus” is just as much about aspects of personality as it is about the constellations. When Ying compares himself to an Ophiuchus, it’s the lethality of the serpent, but it’s also the Ophiuchus the hidden thirteen sign, a backdoor option lying in wait. Its music constantly puts the pressure on you, throwing background screeches, percussion that ticks like a clock, and Ying singing in that rushed falsetto, wondering if you’ll continue following in the wilderness or test the backdoor option and try him out.
Zaina Sze - “Stay”
Zaina Sze frames love as a battle: “know yourself and know your enemy / love, suspense and mystery, learn to solve the difficulty.” She frames it like that, not for herself, but for a friend, encouraging them to keep pushing, adding tiny little notes like “don’t be too quick to make promises” or in-ear instructions like “tell him you are the focus of the journey.” Sze is giddy, waiting for the day you get your fairy tale ending and there’s a mystical glow of optimism around “Stay” that refuses the possibility of things going poorly for you.
2Naughtyy - “What? (feat. Richtheloner)”
In almost typical fashion, the members of Rich Kids Mob rap about youth and rebellion in sad boy emo-trap, soaking in autotuned boredom and quicksand beats. They’re kids. They take opulence not at face value, but as an aspiration, constantly rapping about the humdrum of working hard to one day maybe get what they want. But on their biggest singles, when the members link together, they challenge each other, disrupting routines to pull themselves out of the daily rut. Take Crazchanni and LOWKEYBOY’s “Twin Stars”—the same autotune that was on their solo singles is slathered across it but the pair sound excited to be there, sing-rapping promo for their later mixtape, dropping lines about never feeling sad, and throwing rap tags whenever they get the chance. “What?” is their first on a major label, the debut of 2Naughtyy on Hong Kong’s P.P.C Records, and isn’t as excitable but delivers some of their most interesting moves: lines dropped quit and dirty, chirpy “what?”s in handoffs, and a slurred tempo change before they bring it back like it’s nothing. Working solo, the members of Rich Kids Mob drown in wasted time, but together, they manage to make youth sound endlessly thrilling.
Find the Canto Wrap and Mando Gap playlists on Spotify and me on Twitter here.