Faye Wong – 浮躁 (Impetuous)

A masterpiece album from C-pop icon Faye Wong, 浮躁 (Impetuous) follows the dream pop oriented sonic foundations set by 1994’s 胡思亂想 (Random Thoughts), which included covers of the Cocteau Twins and The Cranberries, with even more adventurous electronic production along with a surprising collaborator from overseas… While most of the album was created with Wong’s husband Dou Wei, frontman of the seminal Chinese rock band Black Panther, and “golden producer” Zhang Yadong, A4 “分裂” and B3 “掃興” were actually produced and performed by the Cocteau Twins themselves, who heard Wong’s previous cover, were impressed, and asked her to collaborate. Much like the Cocteau’s Elizebeth Fraser, Wong obscures her vocals throughout the album, creating an ethereal world of her own by employing wordless or imagined sounds. Wong: “I think singers can treat their voice as instruments… For me, music is an image. Lyrics are not important. If music itself conveys messages, lyrics are unnecessary. Though I don’t try to get rid of lyrics.”

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