Li Rong Hao(李榮浩) - EN(嗯) Album Thoughts(Mandopop)

Track List:
01. 嗯En
02. 就這樣That Is It
03. 裙姊Qun Zi
04. 歌謠Ballad
05. 我看著你的時候When I Look At You
06. 祝你幸福Wish You Happiness
07. 后羿Hou Yi (《王者榮耀》后羿英雄主打歌)
08. 戒菸Quit Smoking
09. 少年Teenager
10. 不說Tacit (電影《從你的全世界路過》路過版主題曲)

 

  Singer Li Rong Hao has had an successful career as a Chinese singer. He has released three albums and two EPs. Each release caused the singer to gain more fame, receiving the best new singer award and best album of the year in China. EN is the fourth album by the singer that has been met with positive reviews from listeners.

  I started listing to Rong Hao a year ago during the release of his second album. I really liked how he had his own distinct musical style compared to others at the time. EN continues Hao's creative process but does take a new path to a new sound. I'm a fan of his sophomore self titled album containing a more soulful rock sound. EN is quite different from this album in a few ways. For one, the album is full of ballads and med tempo Mandopop tracks. Hao really defined what the genre "Mandopop" means as the album uses a lot of traditional Chinese instruments to be played for support of the pop beats. He still produced En with his old roots in mind a little bit. If you want to count the straight out of Motown funky guitar support in some of EN's  tracks. However, the music is mostly focused on slow acoustic ballads and just slow songs in general. Inside these mellow tracks, acoustic guitars and electric guitars play on top of each other. Making an loud versus quiet echo of music clashing into each other. I can hear the talent Hao has for music production even though I'm not a big fan of EN as a whole album. All the singles for the album are good. Slower tracks included. What caught my attention was Hao's expert craft for pulling listeners in by using his lyrics and musical production. He's the kind of singer that can make you feel a connection to his lyrics because of the reliability. Whether the lyrics are about regular life or love. I'm sure Chinese listeners love his songs simply for the well written lyrical content. One last quality that I noticed was the production of Electropop mixed with Chinese cultural music. The beat is kind of fast, loud, and even could be described as messy. This doesn't stop Hao from using these traits to create a fresh style for fans. You would think that the obedient form of traditional Chinese music wouldn't fit well with Electropop until Hao proves the theory wrong. EN feels like a low key musical experiment to me overall.

   Li Rong Hao's vocals are a cross between rock and soul musical styles. I could see him doing Jazz or other mellow styles too. Whoever was in charge of background vocals for the album was a REAL DAMN MAN[INSERT ME LAUGHING!]! That singer could hit some very low notes. It might have been Hao himself singing his own backup vocals too.

   From a music standpoint, EN isn't a bad album at all. All the tracks are not for me since some are too slow(I do like a few of his ballads.). I'm still a defiant fan though.