Ho Trung Dung – Hanh Phuc
Ho Trung Dung has a warm, charming voice, a tad too nice for my taste. In his new release, Hanh Phuc, Ho Trung Dung sings most of his own tunes. Like many Vietnamese singer-songwriters, he suffers the same symptoms: uninspired lyrics with lifeless melodies.
“Khi Nang Chua Day” is sentimental and romantic, but the rest of the tracks also carry similar pop-hook formula. The spotless, mechanical arrangements aren’t doing his clean, good-boy voice any favor either. His songs are so consistent that there are hardly any harmonic changes. “Doi Khi” and “Tinh Khong Muon Mang” stand out simply because he brought Thanh Ngoc and Ha Linh in for the duets.
“Never Too Late” is included at the end as if there’s a new rule that Vietnamese singers have to include an English track on their album. It’s not a bonus. It’s a bogus.
Never heard of him. Is he Vietnamese American?
He’s just Vietnamese :)
“there’s a new rule that Vietnamese singers have to include an English track on their album” If not then how else can Third World singers prove their worth? (-:
good review! Although I appreciate the effort of new talents, I agree w/ u that many emerging singer-songwriters have serious case of “uninspired lyrics with lifeless melodies.” I miss the poetic & romantic lyrics from songwriters of older generations. I understand vietnamese better by listening to those music, especially traditional que huong songs.
by the way, have u seen the new asia dvd (dam cuoi dua xuan) yet? if so, i look forward to ur review. u can check out my review on my blog.
Nice review, Allison. Nope I haven’t watched it yet.
he has a nice, easy to listen voice, nothing really stand out thought. I hate the English song at the end of the cd, wish that he did not included it. Over all I give a B for this CD, because overall, he is not a bad singer actually