Written by / Wang Jingfan
Among the many Chinese singer-songwriters, you can always choose to believe in Li Yu.
Compared with some hidden singers who have not released films for several years, Li Yu still maintains a frequency of hair releases for nearly a year. Since his debut five years ago, Li Yu has published four full-creation albums: from "Fish in the Fish" in 2017, "Ukiyo-you" in 2018 to "Ten Thousand Views" in 2020, all the way to this year's "Creation"...
Like Li Yu, as a singer-songwriter who has arranged songs and even participated in most of the behind-the-scenes productions, it is not easy to maintain the designated action of releasing films every year. We always say that many of the best albums for creative artists are always the first ones. Because, that is, before his/her debut, he/she accumulated at least ten years of creative precipitation.
For those singer-songwriters who only release a record every three or four years, we are not stingy to give praise such as "grinding a sword in a few years" and "slow work to do a small job". But Li Yu is a rare "exception". She has always maintained the most vigorous creative force rain or shine. And this desire to express something is always reflected in her work.
I made four full-length albums in five years, each of which was written by myself. When everyone is rushing to release a single, Li Yu's "feat" of going against the trend of the times is enough to surprise people. It is precisely because of the four heavy works that we can clearly see from them how Li Yu has come to the present step by step.
In my opinion, li yu is quite powerful that she did not reduce the corresponding "quality" because she pursued the "quantity" of the work. What's even more rare is that she can even improve a little more than herself in the previous record. It can be said that the dozens of songs that Li Yu has written in the past five years are all works of dedication that can be left in the Chinese music scene.
To maintain a stable and reliable output, the creator himself needs to constantly update and iterate himself in order to adapt to the rapidly changing era in front of him. Therefore, when it came to the fourth solo album, Li Yu directly named the name of the record "Creation" (English name is Works of the Creator) to record her various "creations" in the Chinese music scene over the years.
I like the Work of the Creator, which can make people think about the English name, the album "Creation", in fact, is also very much like Li Yu's music and lyrics to accumulate an aural work collection. When the singer's career has reached a certain stage, it is also time to stop, review his gains and losses on the road of creation, and then understand some new "creations" from it.
Some people like to hang the four words "creation and creation" on their lips, in fact, "creation" is not necessarily a derogatory word, the key is to see what kind of attitude you choose to use. Even in the face of the worst, we can use the best mood to transform the crisis into the next opportunity, turn failure into the energy of success, and then meet these "creations" of fate.
The singer-songwriter in the public impression may be a "troubadour" who travels around the mountains and rivers and spends his poetic life every day, but At this stage, Li Yu seems to prefer that everyone see her as a creator (creator) who records life with music. Through the album "Creation", Li Yu also wants to present his evolution on this road in a creative way.
Interpreted from this perspective, Li Yu, a white-clad girl on the cover of the album "Creation", who "holds the pipa and half covered her face", has also become a symbolic image that wants to stop talking. Compared with the popular hits such as "Sister" in the past, "Creation" is obviously not a simple and easy-to-understand album. In other words, to understand Creation, you first have to have a little "Creation."
Li Yu, who grew up galloping on the road of creation, is naturally no longer satisfied with the depiction of the floating light of the world. At this moment, she hopes to go deep into everything and the spiritual core of every person, and try to explore the real life hidden behind these stories through her own creation. The "Creation", which was painstakingly refined, is exactly such a work full of depth.
To skip the surface of things and go straight to the core of the problem, it requires the continuous accumulation of creators to do it. Just like the theme of "Flowing Fireworks", ordinary singer-songwriters may write it as a sentiment of sad spring and sad autumn. However, after the advancement, Li Yu can penetrate the faint light emitted by fireflies in the work, telling the connection between people and the entire universe, which is "the merit of the day".
A person goes to the plateau to perform, a person goes to the countryside to collect materials, a person works to experience life... Since 2017, Li Yu, who has been debuting for five years, has relied on himself almost the whole time and traveled through thousands of rivers and mountains. She has not been attached to the olive branch handed out by traffic and capital at all, but has firmly completed this incomparably long and difficult creative journey with a more independent attitude.
In "Creation", there are both "anti-climactic" alternative works such as "Pouring Spring Cold" and "Scorching Sun", as well as "Heavy Taste" songs that explore the dark side of human nature, such as "Drumming and Passing Flowers", "Ben Evil" and "Fly". Li Yu not only maintained his unique indie humanistic color, but also brought the "workability" of the entire album to a new creative height.
The first time I listened to a whole sheet of "Creation" from beginning to end in its entirety, my first feeling was that in these music, Li Yu had indeed completed a difficult growth of fighting with himself and reconciling with himself. Growth is not something that happens overnight, and the darkest moments of bumping and self-doubt in the process are precisely the most important components of Creation.
More plump and colorful musical elements, more meticulous and precise production details, did not make Li Yu's "Creation", lose the most precious "original ecology" of this artist. In terms of listening, Li Yu has always maintained a "wild" appearance very well. And the kind of tragic and desperate teenager's spirit that comes with her works can always easily impress me.
Listening to the process of the album "Creation", it is also like following Li Yu's singing, chaotic into a deep mountain forest that does not know where he is. In this music valley created by Li Yu, there are "Twelve Elephants of the Desolate Ridge", "Flowing Crows", and "Flowing Fireworks"... As for the main theme of the whole disc of "Creation", it is "Forest of Life" that impressed me the most.
Life, in fact, is also very much like a forest. You think you have to go a long, long way, but in fact this road will soon be completed. Some weaknesses in human nature make it easy for us to blind us and not see the truth of life in front of us. As Li Yu sang in "The Forest of Life": "When I want to draft a full of sins for me, I am only justifying my shallow ignorance!" ”
Listening to Li Yu sing "Forest of Life" vigorously, I seem to have realized one thing: when we are fully aware of our smallness, it may be the beginning of the next stage of progress in life. Even the arrogant, barren and small beings in the woods are desperately uprooting and growing, so what excuse do we have not to continue to try to survive?
Of course, at the end of the entire album, Li Yu still left a bright tail with hope for the listeners. "I can't see the old earth in a few moments, I can't tolerate this cool breeze and snow, long live Chitose..." Listening to the first ten songs seems to have a little desperate human truth, we also need to have Li Yu's signature gentle comfort like "Wind and Rain Bridge" to conclude.
In any case, the endless surprises and emotions brought by each album of Li Yu are real. You can never imagine what kind of musical trick she will conjure up next time, which is why we will always believe in Li Yu. I hope that next year, we can still complete the annual music meeting with Li Yu in Li Yu's creative album as we are now.
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