About "Reciprocal Relationship", let's start with male and female duets.
Li Ronghao's works, cooperation with female singers are few. The last time was "Two Ordinary Young People" with Liu Baixin Lexie, and then it was "Reciprocal Relationship" sung with Zhang Huimei this time. It seems that it can be seen from this that li ronghao is both cautious and exquisite in terms of cooperation. Caution means that he will never cooperate for the sole sake of cooperation; it means that anyone who chooses to cooperate must have a deliberate appeal. For example, in "Two Ordinary Young People", you can feel his awareness of trying fresh styles and integrating multiple elements. In "Reciprocal Relationships," I heard his efforts to get involved in the classic paradigm of Chinese love songs.
Therefore, in the face of collaborative works, we should not only consider who she is who she is working with, but also see Li Ronghao's consideration at the musical level. Of course, the cooperation between Li Ronghao and Zhang Huimei is worthy of a special book, and the top musicians in the Chinese music scene join forces with pop divas, this kind of scene is quite rare, and it will naturally be a guarantee of quality and a manifestation of taste.
Specific to the song cooperation, although the two works before and after are different in style and theme, there is actually an inertia inside. Overall, four words can be summed up: there is a look.
The Rap in "Two Ordinary Young People" and the love songs in "Reciprocal Relationship" can be described as models within the style spectrum, revealing Li Ronghao's comprehensive musical ability. At the same time, it can be noted that in the dimension of musical shaping, he has always adhered to the principle of "purification". Hip-hop's "Two Ordinary Young People" does not use complex popular elements, but returns to the Old School concept, whether it is Beat selection or sampling is very nostalgic. Pop Ballad's "Reciprocal Relationship" also takes the classic form to present the affectionate interaction between male and female voices, without tricks or decorations.
From this, I think that Li Ronghao is actually quite serious and traditional in his bones, and music creation is indispensable to him, but the core is always around musicality and professionalism. This is a logic that will be pure to the extreme, just as most of the main body of his songs will use guitar, bass, and drums as the base structure to create a rich musical form.
When you conclude that the sounds of real instruments are obsolete, he has repeatedly proved that their expressiveness is amazing. It is not difficult to understand why Li Ronghao attaches importance to retro, which is a complex, a creative style, an aesthetic taste, and a kind of thinking about cognitive music. I think what this all-round musician is thinking about is how to achieve fullness with simplicity, how to achieve infinity in plainness.
This is the case with the work "Reciprocal Relations".
Regarding the work, retro is a topic that must be talked about. In fact, judging from the songs released by the previous recordings, retro should be the general direction of Li Ronghao's seventh studio album. From the original Hong Kong flavor of "Across the Sea", to the subsequent direct cover of Beyond's song "Lover", and then to the "Reciprocal Relationship" that echoes the golden age of Chinese pop music, the retro feelings are vividly reflected in it.
Then the question worth thinking about arises, why retro?
Tribute to a great time when the agent should be the root. In addition, I think Lee Young-ho is showing us in this way that he thinks pop music is the most ideal state. Just as "Reciprocal Relationship" can become a model of love song duet: how do male and female voices match? Not only the level of timbre or the melting of frequency bands, but also the dynamic generation of "dialogue". Li Ronghao and Zhang Huimei sang in a carousel mode, thus vividly presenting real-time interaction and effectively achieving a "reciprocal relationship". In addition, I feel that the singing of the two has the meaning of "complementing each other", Zhang Huimei's dedication allows us to appreciate the style of the cross-era Diva, and Li Ronghao's singing is self-consistent with it, and in the form of alternating singing, the vocals have distinct layers such as high and low, strength and weakness, light and shade. Harmony is more integrated, taking care of each other in their respective frequency bands, and the intuitive vocals and inner emotions have appropriate echoes. In the process of such interaction, the emotions, feelings, and emotions of the two characters are fully released, and even the personalities of the characters are vividly displayed.
And then how do you create? Love songs have the "routine" of love songs, and Li Ronghao happens to be a creator who is good at anti-routines. Therefore, the song "Reciprocal Relationship" that we hear has both a beautiful sound in the conventional sense and an unconventional listening experience, so as to have both a sense of familiarity and freshness. Moreover, in the creation of This time, Li Ronghao consciously contributed to the narrative of the sense of cinema, and the song lasted nearly 5 and a half minutes, which is already special in the standard of conventional pop love songs. However, the super long time does not cause tiredness in the hearing, and the song actively creates dynamics in the overall relatively smooth melodic outline, so that this emotional story can really strengthen the plot and dramatization, and the long lines have their own ups and downs.
And how is the choreography made? One of the focuses of retro is a return to simplicity, a three-dimensional view of the picture and feeling in the soundstage created by simple orchestration. The arrangement of the song "Reciprocal Relationship" belongs to this kind of minimalist technique, using the elements that we are most familiar with, coupled with Li Ronghao's mature approach in production to ensure that the mixing of musical elements is not bad, and the final construction effect is also comfortable for us. The effect of this design is twofold, on the one hand, it is to generate abundant resonance and form a sufficient emotional connection for the listener. On the other hand, it is to create authenticity and maximize the guarantee of the song's mood and emotions.
From this, it is not difficult to infer the core of retro in Li Ronghao's mind. Retro is definitely not a simple restoration of timbre, nor is it a superficial temperament reproduction, but the intention to return to the key to the most fundamental root of music: to trigger the real experience in a sincere way. "Reciprocal Relationship" shows technology without showing off technology. I mean, you can find ingenuity in the details of the song, but it doesn't seem abrupt or deliberate. Technology should serve the expression of emotions. Just as songs actively provide space for vocals in their arrangement, in an era when arrangements can have a "subversive" effect, the song "Reciprocal Relationship" is back to basics. To ensure that the singing of the two fully achieves the true embodiment, Li Ronghao and Zhang Huimei can be said to have created the best atmosphere of "male and female duet". Based on a good "reciprocal relationship", each other play out their characteristics and strengths. The edges and grains in Li Ronghao's vocals, as well as the delicacy and warmth in Zhang Huimei's vocals, are fully prominent. In fact, duets should be like this, fully gaining each other on the basis of maintaining their respective recognition.
Especially for Li Ronghao, it is quite rewarding. In my understanding, this collaboration is a self-breakthrough in the singing dimension, and his vocals in the song "Reciprocal Relationship" have remarkable performances in terms of the breadth of change, the degree of detail, and the richness of colors. In such a work that emphasizes vocal expression, it is natural to show extra persuasion.
I think that the song "Reciprocal Relationship" is destined to satisfy the three parties, Li Ronghao's fans, Zhang Huimei's fans, and fans who Chinese love songs.
Speaking of this, I suddenly thought of the Tag of "Li Ronghao Zhang Huimei Love Song Circle Ceiling" on Weibo, what did you read from it? Personally, I think this essentially shows that "Peer-to-Peer Relationship" can indeed become a benchmark in the Chinese love song industry, high-quality creation, high-level production, and infectious singing presentation. Together, they led to the birth of an annual love song. On a professional level, it makes sense for us to relive the feeling of singing a classic love song duet. At the popular level, it will be widely sung and become a must-have song for men and women when singing K songs.
At this point, it doesn't matter whether it's retro or not. After all, classics can span the ages, and high-quality songs can be detached from labels. In my opinion, the song "Reciprocal Relationship" is good at cutting to the essence of love songs, and expresses itself in a "storytelling" way. So the song will eventually succeed in leaving an incomparably mixed love story in our hearts, as well as a tangled but unforgettable feeling.
Speaking of capturing the state of the urban crowd, we have to praise Li Ronghao's ability to write golden sentences, the lyrics of the lyrics such as "not suitable to become a partner / be a friend but not willing", "not suitable to become a partner / to be a friend is not necessary" such text, really the ambivalence in the urban emotional relationship is expressed accurately in place, more subtle is that the above two lyrics before and after the two lyrics are sung by the two singers, so as to enhance the meaning of the interaction between the two parties, so that such a feeling has a strong sense of universality.
After all, "Reciprocal Relationship" is a song about "I understand your feelings", and Lee Wing-ho has always been good at creating resonance, which is behind his excellent observation and narrative ability as a music creator.
Therefore, rather than "paying tribute to an era" or "echoing the classic pop style", I prefer to see "Peer-to-Peer Relationship" as a re-consolidation of Lee Young-ho's self-characteristics, and the success of the song comes from his exquisite drilling in all aspects, as well as his strong pursuit of musicality and professionalism.