Zuo Xiaozu Mantra's 2016 new album is dedicated to the "Shanghai years" in the memory of every young person

Today, Zuo Xiaozu's new album "Shanghai Years" was officially released, the album includes the latest month's release of "Shanghai Years", "Morning Sunshine", "When I Leave You LIVE" and the previously released "Long River", "I want to make a windfall", "Strangers are singing" and other 9 works, all of which have been launched online.

If you count from Zuo Xiaozu's two albums "The Lost Master" and "Temple Fair Journey" published in Modern Sky in 1999, "Shanghai Years" is zuo Xiaozu's fourth album released in Modern Sky, which spans 17 years of four albums, and also witnesses a good relationship between Modern Sky and Zuo Xiaozu.

Zuo Xiaozu's last album published in Modern Sky was "We Need a Singer", which is equivalent to the previous mix of "I Can't Sit Sadly Next to You" and "You Know Which Side the East Is", witty and solemn coexist, funny and serious symbiosis, constituting a huge and vast lyrical vision. Today's "Shanghai Years" is Zuo Xiaozu's review of his early 20s, and the album's eponymous songs "Shanghai Years" and "Waiting for My Boat" are the representative works that can best summarize the theme of the album.

In these two songs, "Shanghai Years" uses a fictional "I", a rootless wanderer's mouth, to write a young man's personal feelings about identity, in a world with a clear gulf, he is not willing to endure the pain of the nameless spirit, trying to break through the cold reality through the thinking of the ancient question of "who am I", breaking the cold boundaries between people and regions, and through the writing of the anxious theme of "finding a home", It tells the story of Zuo Xiaozu's experience in the first three years of the 1990s- the story of an ambitious young man who worked hard in the colorful Ten Mile Ocean Field.

"The Boat Waiting for Me" starts from its own experience, identifies it with the real and clear identity of "the son of a boatman", and uses the important metaphor of "boat" to vividly express the confused state of mind of young people. "Boat" is an important symbol that is difficult to erase in Zuo Xiaozu's childhood life, he was born in Jiangsu, his mother is a boatman, his father is the boss of the ship, the world on the "boat" is a miniature version of society, at the same time, the "boat" was born into death in the wind and waves, back and forth, but also gave Zuo Xiaozu a great inspiration in the spirit. "Boat" is also a metaphor for the space of love, whether the "Alyssa" sung in the song really has this person, it is no longer important, what is important is that this multi-meaning and metaphorical "boat" leaves us with a lot of reverie space.

As the theme song of the Berlin Film Festival's Silver Bear Award for "Yangtze River Map", "Long River" was released and attracted heated discussion. Zuo Xiaozu, who has lived on the edge of the Yangtze River since he was a child, has a deep personal growth experience with the Yangtze River, and as the "son of a boatman", he is also quite close to the growth experience of the protagonist of the story of the "Yangtze River Map". The Yangtze River seems to be calm, the sound of the river sounds melodious, but the water under the river surface is actually turbulent, and the best way for humans and nature to get along is not the antagonistic relationship between conquering and being conquered, but should be understood from the perspective of harmonious and sustainable development, which may also be the best way to treat the Yangtze River. Zuo Xiaozu infused his soul into this song, perfectly combined with his own experience of wandering on the river since he was a child, to create such a poetic, free, dreamy song of "Long River", which also fit the confusing love relationship between men and women in the movie, telling a story about a pursuit, tracing the river, tracing the heart, tracing the poetry, tracing the trace, tracing the girl...

"I'm going to Make a Windfall" is a humorous and deeply meaningful ballad, harmonica and guitar to create a relaxed lyrical style. "I want to make a windfall", this slogan-style prayer is simple and direct, it is the simplest and most direct expression of desire in consumer society, naked and true, under the domination of economic discourse, the multiple struggles of dreams, values, ethics, and emotions. "I want to make a windfall" is also a true description of the mentality of small people in an era. "Windfall is pie in the sky and unintentionally hits yourself, not to teach you not to do things unrealistically, but this song is a very common phenomenon, and it is also something that everyone is thinking about." 」 ——Zuo Xiaozu's mantra tells the truth.

"Strangers Are Singing" has been released as a single for a full year, and the strong western rock style in the song makes people can't help but get up and ride on the highway in the sound of roaring motors. In the song, "The journey is calling me", the theme of the work is named. This work is also a must-performed piece of Zuo Xiaozu's song at major music festivals this year, as the song with the strongest rock flavor in the album, it flows with young, fearless and courageous blood, full of momentum.

As an album by Zuo Xiaozu who recalls his youth, "Shanghai Years" is not a nostalgic work in a simple sense. From the whole album, it can be felt that although more than twenty years have passed since the time written on the album, the economy, culture, and society have undergone earth-shaking changes in these twenty years. However, what is hidden behind this album is the clamor that has been hanging for a long time, and in the ever-changing times, the confusion faced by young people has never been hidden, on the contrary, it has always been an anonymous crux that accompanies the process of modernization. Looking back at Zuo Xiaozu's "Shanghai years", we can glimpse how confused and helpless every young person has in different eras behind the loneliness and fierceness of the past and indulgence. The writing and expression of these experiences is also the most valuable asset left by "Shanghai Years" to young music fans.