Quang Dung - Va
June 13th, 2008
Quang Dung has lost his mojo. His latest release Va contains all the right ingredients, a great song list and a collaboration with Le Quang. But it lacks the essential component, an aesthetic vocal.
Each track is arranged in the intimate style of “nhac thinh phong” to allow his vocal to take center stage. So was the intention. Instead, his voice becomes expressively weak, especially when he implores us to notice his skills on the high notes. Through his exaggerated effort to prove himself, he sounds almost incompetent and inauthentic in his own genre. The only track worth a spin is “Da Khuc Cho Tinh Nhan.” Even then, Nguyen Khang’s rendition is way more hypnotic.
Quang Dung’s first US release fails miserably to distinguish itself. The album turns out to be as tasteless as its title.