Chinese Pop Rock Queen Tian Zhen is heating things up with 38.5 C.
Tian Zhen's appears on the front cover of her new album in a sexy, eye-catching pose. This is in stark contrast to her previously simple and natural appearance. But it reflects the nature of her new songs. One of the singles from the album, Coldly Beautiful, has already become the hottest single on radio stations and the Internet even before the formal release of the album. It describes the feeling of a women deeply hurt by a relationship, that she at last chose to give up and become more "coldly beautiful". You can even hear a brawl between a man and a woman in the background of the singing.
Keeping her style of light rock and her unique high pitched, solid and sonorous voice, Tian tries to fuse ballads and Latin rhythms in the new album. As a singer, Tian Zhen has tried to maintain originality in all the songs on the album. The lead track, Sunrise, combines Peking opera with rock for a fresh effect.
Tian Zhen began her career as a singer in early 1985 and has established her status as China's pop queen for the last 20 years. Her career peaked during a 2001 concert tour, after which she chose to step out of the spotlight. Now she's back, with more of a rock flavor.
You can detect a slight difference between the title track 38.5 and her previous hits, such as Wild Flower, which is more of a ballad than a rock song. The melody of the title track, 38.5 Celsius uses electric sounds and guitar and folk music elements. The song was written during the SARS outbreak period in 2003. It's not that the song is about SARS, it's about an unbreakable love. The lyrics go: "Even if my temperature has reached 38.5 Celsius, you must live with me. I'll kiss you and you'll kiss me too."
Although some music critics believe 38.5 is not as good as some of her previous albums, such as Tian Zhen and Let It Be, which won wide acclaim, most people agree that some of the songs in the album are very good and her experiments with new musical styles represent the some of the best examples of Chinese fusion music.
(CRI August 1, 2005)
