The first time I was looking forward to The Letter's new album, after listening to the album's eponymous title" "Alchemy". In the song "Alchemy", I feel a different letter than before, his emotional presentation is more layered, more delicate, and the control of the voice is softer and more infectious, so I firmly believe that the letter will bring a different performance in the new album than before - he did not disappoint.
Singers who have always felt that they can jump out of their comfort zone are worthy of expectation and praise. For Xin, his comfort zone is the excitement and surging effect of the iron voice, the style of metal rock, the strong impact of the arrangement, these are his logos, from the day I met him to this day. In the album "Alchemy", he did the opposite, reclaiming in another field of music, "suddenly" becoming determined, gentle, mature, steady and even delicate, which became the source of all the surprises and expectations for this album.
A sentence that I agree with is, "Every one is a brand new first", only in this way can the singer let go of himself to play, to challenge different styles, and to show a singer's more diversified charm. And looking forward to the arrival of this day of the letter (this album) has been a long time, not tired of the letter's interpretation of rock works, fundamentally speaking, he has the ability and strength to present the other side of the self, there is no need to be stingy and hidden.
Therefore, hearing "Alchemy" is gratifying, the softness and delicacy of the voice is unprecedented, without any hint of kneading and contrived expression, the expression of emotion is sincere and natural, in addition to the subtlety, it will also drive the undulating nature of the sound with the fluctuation of emotions, with the help of the layers of the arrangement to promote the sublimation of emotions, so as to release the effect of resonance, it is worth emphasizing that this delicate and soft treatment is not what everyone calls the iron man tenderness, the letter at this moment is not an iron man, but a gentle and mature man - listening to the entire album will find that Alchemy does not have an overly rigid treatment, no matter what the style of work, his voice presentation is controlled in an extremely smooth and comfortable category, of course, this is very elaborate singing.
It is true that Shin's interpretation in Alchemy is different from the previous toughness, becoming gentle and comfortable, but not at all technical. The style of the song has become more diverse, and the scope of experimentation has become broader, which means that the angle of interpretation is no longer stuck to the previous loud and loud, or highlight the power. Just like the layering of "Alchemy", the treatment of emotions is extremely meticulous enough to surprise, and the interpretation of "Awake" can be described as stunning, this is the most difficult to interpret in the whole album, the tone of the letter is very high, the difficulty is increased at the beginning, but the letter does not have any roar in the process of processing, the whole process is maintained in a very "soft" category, with a large number of false sounds instead of the iron voice that was supposed to appear, this way of interpretation is actually more difficult than letting go of the throat, It is more important to control the breath. In "Addicted", the letter shows a rare sense of rhythm and movement, the song itself goes in the style of electronic and r&b fusion, which is quite flexible, and the processing of the letter is to bring more pleasant movement on the basis of agility, flowing water, smooth and smooth, such an expression has no reason not to be addictive.
The letter in "Alchemy" sings both changeable and surprising, which is the embodiment of strength, which is also due to the fact that this album is mainly "fresh" in terms of style positioning, does not take the "comfortable" route, and has the courage to try the style that never dares to believe that it will appear in the letter album. The r&b rhythm of "Addicted" is full of dynamics, the county rock of "Awake" is infectious, these are not nothing, in fact, the retro disco integrated in "Fuel" is an accident, very psychedelic atmosphere, with the letter in the main song part of the lazy and provocative voice line is more charming, the chorus part is weak and strong and not hysterical, but also really brings out the feeling of ecstasy. The trap pop and edm elements integrated into "Reply" are in line with the current popular trend, and it is important to prove that the style of edm does not contradict the voice of the letter, of course, this is also based on the letter's understanding and control of this style.
The "Alchemy" album is diverse in style, full of freshness, but there is no sense of messiness, and the central theme inside and outside the album itself is very distinct. An album is a melting process, and various genres are smelted materials, as well as the singing skills accumulated over the years, which come together to achieve this "Alchemy", which is external. And internally, "Alchemy" focuses on showing a mature man not only emotionally, but also in the view of life, through music to express and present, so the feelings are delicate, gentle, mature, with the most sincere emotions to refine this "Alchemy".
If you want to say that there is any shortcoming in the "Alchemy" of faith, it is necessary to be picky, and perhaps the unfinished meaning of the eight songs is the biggest regret.