Li Yu's fourth studio album, the changes are very obvious, the style is more complex, and the singing is more abundant. I noticed that a music platform positioned this album as "alternative music", compared to the previous three works "folk" or broad "pop" label, this time "Creation" has shown different characteristics. In a sense, this difference is a leap, from the limit of warmth to restlessness. Among them, there is naturally a breakthrough meaning, which is Li Yu's self-liberation in music creation and expression, which can be said to be a "zeroing" operation, deconstructing the past and starting from scratch.
If you've listened to Li Yu's first three albums, I suggest you must listen to "Creation". After listening to it, you will be able to clarify her growth process and be able to interpret her creations in depth. I don't know if you have noticed a detail, such as the songs "Hot Sun Cambodia", "Fly", "Drumming and Passing Flowers", "Ruins", "Ben Evil", all appear in English lyrics. For Li Yu, who has insisted on pure Chinese creation in the past three albums "Fish in the Language", "Ukiyo-yu", and "Ten Thousand Views", this is a big change. My interpretation of this is that she is completely free in her creation, no longer stuck to a single idea, but follows the burst of inspiration and follows the trend. In this way, the creation is given a sense of natural flow in one go, taking "Burning Sun Cambodia" as an example, "Will you let me go" is followed by "Be a ghost/Hide for me", which may seem abrupt to see such sudden language changes alone, but placed in the musical context, it is self-consistent and fits the overall musicality. And it is related to the theme of the song, which echoes the previous lyrics "That Ghost".
Li Yu's Chinese creation is convincing enough, and this diversification of language expression can be regarded as her conscious exploration. Try to build a layer of text, and inside it is the depth of expression. In addition, this is also through the text of the interaction with the music, especially in this album there are many types of international music styles, so that there is a real-time "dialogue" between the text and the music.
What I want to express is that in the album "Creation", Li Yu's vision has gradually broadened, and he actively seeks novelty and creativity.
At this point, I'm already looking forward to what her next album will look like. Because according to the development route of the four albums so far, Li Yu's music path is obviously getting wider and wider, and it is becoming more and more unpredictable. So now what she presents is the attributes of a truly independent musician, a highly self-contained musical idea, a musical aesthetic that adheres to her own, and more importantly, to explore music according to her own rhythm. Rhythm is very important, Li Yu did not blindly pursue change, but gradually completed the "evolution". Just as several breakthroughs in the album "Creation" are not accidental, the general trend has been reflected in the previous album "Thousand Views". Thanks to a stable creative level and a stable cooperative team, Li Yu can confidently develop new skills and new fields.
Regarding the new skill, the most prominent one is singing. If you divide it simply, Li Yu at this stage and Li Yu in the previous "folk song" period, singing are two different styles. Whereas the previous focus will be more on telling the feelings as usual, now the focus is on artistic expression, that is, not simply on clarifying, but on artistically processed performances. A simple example: In "Burning Sun Cambodia", the judgment I gave when the previous single was released was that Li Yu's vocal energy reached a new height. In particular, the passage where the vocals and the arrangement "compete" can be described as wonderful. The sense of compression and support of the sound is stronger than ever, which is the foundation of the power, it does not dodge, does not hesitate, and is a firm output in real time. It can be seen that "Burning Sun Cambodia" is showing the big dynamics and dramatization, showing us Li Yu's thinking in a full artistic way.
Then there is "Forest of Life", which is another scene, the whole ethereal tone, Li Yu concentrated on the vocal output of high position resonance, and cooperated with electronic music to create a psychedelic atmosphere. There is also "Fly", an industrial rock dance song, Li Yu's vocals strive for a deep and mysterious effect on the basis of full rhythm. The vocals in Drumming and Passing Flowers are designable enough, maintain sufficient graininess and pay attention to the texture of the original sound line, so that the Lo-fi hearing sense formed reveals the consideration of vocal experiments. In short, the vocals throughout the album are highly appreciative points, and it becomes an important component of the music. Li Yu seems to have found the main point to open up the infinite possibilities of sound, and the appeal is different in each song.
The advantages of such a choice are very clear, on the one hand, it enhances the expressiveness of the song, not simply relying on the arrangement to expand the mood and strengthen the mood, and the singing can also truly guide the listener into the specific field of the song. On the other hand, while the creation continues to be stylized, singing becomes another focus of recognition shaping. In terms of singing and composing two dimensions, Li Yu is both balanced and good at the moment.
Regarding new fields, the album's research on diverse musical styles is quite successful. Successfully extended the core of Li Yu's creation. I've always thought of her as a thoughtful creator, observing the movements of the world and capturing the reactions of the people in the world. Perhaps it is precisely because of the weight of this thought that her songs will have a deep tonality, and then the same feeling will be followed in the musical shaping. Therefore, although the musical style in the album "Creation" does not have a uniform division, it has the same direction, that is, thickening, mystifying, and deepening, and its purpose must be to assist and deepen Li Yu's creation. Her creations talk about the complexity of human nature, and you will hear strange sounds in things like "The Fly" and "Drumming and Passing flowers". Her creations also emphasize delicacy, so you can experience the ancient charm of the East in "Wind and Rain Bridge". Her creation also attaches great importance to the creation of artistic conception, so you feel the standard "ambient music" technique in works such as "Spring Cold" and "Drifting Crow". Speaking of atmosphere, the intuitive feature of this album is to provide an immersive musical atmosphere, perhaps a strong sense of cinema, and music and text to achieve multi-dimensional influence.
The best part of this is the overlap of the real and the unreal, as if we are constructing an allegorical picture, and it is also like describing the surroundings of our real experience. In the virtual reality, the true and false, taste the impermanence and wonder of creation. Because of the significant atmosphere, the songs on the album have a full sense of Live, which indicates that the songs will have an expressive and infectious progression in the live presentation process. Among all the songs, the most direct on-site appeal should be "Fly", I think this can be regarded as Li Yu's most special work so far, the dance feeling in it makes it different from other songs that focus on melodic performance, the sense of driving is strong, and it will be the key to triggering group interaction during live performance.
The underlying logic of stylistic exploration is to facilitate creative expression, and the imaginative musical experiments in the album "Creation" have a clear foundation. This foundation determines that no matter how self-innovating Li Yu's works are at the musical level, they will not appear pompous and delicate. There is artistry, but it is definitely not inexplicable, not blind or deliberate. In this way, Li Yu's music at this stage can be regarded as Art Pop, with distinct artistic expression and excellent listenability. It is easy to draw this conclusion: the maturity of the album "Creation" is reflected in the balance, the balance between style and good listening, the balance between abstract thinking and figurative presentation. From the listener's point of view, although digesting the entire work requires sufficient stylistic receptivity, it does not produce obscure feedback. That's where balance comes into play.
Finally, I would like to say that Li Yu is a dedicated and down-to-earth musician, and is willing to inject personality thinking into his works. In her, I saw the spirit and humanistic consciousness of independent musicians, and more precisely, the sensibility and energy of female singer-songwriters.
She's showing diversity, and she's showing deep thinking.