From videos of the earliest releases of cover songs on TikTok; In 2020, he was discovered and signed by the well-known Malaysian singer Luo Yishi and released his first digital EP "A letter" in the same year; The song "Gulf of Alaska" included on the EP the following year received hundreds of millions of views on TikTok, and Friedall achieved some success early when he was only 23 years old.
In fact, "Gulf of Alaska", which was included in "A letter", did not respond particularly well in the early days of its release, but as touching emotions and imagery were gradually received, the song gradually became loved on TikTok and continued to be covered, and then became very popular. But it also brings some distress: most people who like the song don't know that Fiddall is the original author of the song.
Having a song that rewrote the search engine recommendation results in the early days of his debut, in addition to bringing huge attention and eager expectations from fans, also brought unimaginable creative pressure. With this in mind, two years after "A letter", Fidoll handed over his first full-length album - "Life, ups and downs? 》。
Gulf of Alaska
"Life, ups and downs? 》
In A letter, Fiddall comes across as a whispered singer-songwriter. Without too many elements of arrangement, the EP as a whole presents a calm, slightly sad and emotional atmosphere. If "A letter" represents Fidol's introspective, deep touch, then "Life, ups and downs? What the audience shows is his growth in two years.
Unlike the relatively single arrangement of "A letter", "Life, ups and downs? " shows Fidol's determination in music from the beginning: not only has he participated in the production and arrangement of the new album, but also invited many different groups of local musicians in Malaysia (including the boss Luo Yishi) in order to make his debut album "Life, ups and downs? has a richer listening sensation than "A letter".
The first song "Heaven Ah" and the ending song "My Dishes" written by Chen Weixi are both guitar-led R&B, the former is a slow version of tenderness like water, the latter is easy and naughty and pleasant; And two members from the indie band Babychair (Yang Jiacheng and Yan Shiming) teamed up to add "Good Good" and "Long-distance Relationship", which is an urban pop mixed with a charming neon flavor.
BirdBird, a musician who has been working with the EP for a long time, provided a completely different arrangement for the album this time: as the shortest song on the album, the atmospheric arrangement of "Ann" made the song present a feeling of sleepy eyes and being in a dream filled with night fog from the beginning, until the slow voice of "Open your eyes, I lost you again" just fell, everything returned to calm, the song ended, and the dream woke up.
Does this mean that Fiddall has given up his inner singing? Not. Listeners can still play in "Life, ups and downs? I hear heartbreaking, emotional, heartbreaking, emotional singing about the emotions of the heart in "Table for Two," "Waiting for You to Come Home," and "I'm a Puppy Who Doesn't Drink."
It is worth noting that the album version of "Gulf of Alaska" did not directly follow the EP version, but made a bold and careful adaptation, which was different from the original song but still retained the inherent image. The gentle acoustic piano and the glitch synth are originally two different textures, but the ensemble is staggered in the sense of space added by the song, cleverly creating a feeling that the sea in the Gulf of Alaska cannot be blended, and Friedall's emotional singing is more moving than the version in the EP.
But Friedall's growth is not limited to his understanding of music, but also that he can begin to face himself and the world calmly. Therefore, there are inner changes in the album in the face of their own after becoming popular ("Life, ups and downs?") ), there are also jokes about the poor situation ("My roommate and I (are poor)"), and songs that record feelings during the epidemic ("Is it good or not").
Fiddall is trying to bring out the best of himself he can in the moment. Although the title of the album is "Life, ups and downs? But in the design of the album cover, "Fall? Not immediately after "life, ups and downs," but in places that don't seem to be connected.
This is a very interesting place. The sudden popularity is indeed a beautiful thing, which has brought a certain degree of popularity and attention to Fiddall, but it has also created a certain barrier and pressure for his future creations. Will it become a singer (One Hit Wonder), or will it continue to lead to better creation, even beyond the past? This is not an easy question for any music creator. Fiddall is the same, now he has gained some relief, understanding that perhaps success like "Alaska Bay" is difficult to replicate, after all, life is sea, there will be ups and downs, but for him who is only 24 years old now and wants to have more and better creations, it is difficult not to put a question mark on the words of believing that the future is only "falling".
So he spent two years working hard to build a ship called "Life, ups and downs? ". The Gulf of Alaska is certainly a sight to remember, but at this moment Friedall has raised his sails and is ready to sail out of the bay for a new world called music. (On May 20 this year, Fiddall's new song "WMXGHZYSQN" was released) As an audience, do you want to experience those unknown but new landscapes with him?