Against The Light (Taiwan Preorder Version)

The reason why Against the Light feels a bit like déjà vu is because frequent collaborators Peter and Paul Lee, who penned some of Stephanie's biggest hits over the years, contributed six of the ten songs on the album. Thankfully, not only has the hiatus helped prevent the redundancy felt in some of Stephanie's previous albums, the Lees also wrote some of the most solid songs of the album. Peter, who also wrote Stephanie's breakout hit "Dark Dark Sky", turns in some very different work, though none of them matches the success of "Dark Dark Sky".

His first effort, Gugigugi (Track 4), is the first fast song of the album, and gives Stephanie the opportunity to let loose with her vocals. While the melody relies too much on repetition, the slow bridge section provides a nice contrast, and the rap actually shows Stephanie having some fun in the studio, as opposed to most of the other melancholic ballads that fill Against the Light. Peter Lee also turns in one of the more solid slow ballads of the album with Unforgettable (Track 5). An unofficial companion piece to "I'm Not Sad" from her 2003 album To Be Continued in melody and tone, Unforgettable gives Stephanie's controlled vocals (sometimes too controlled) a workout as her singing matches the slow build up of intensity in the arrangement. It's not as memorable as "I'm Not Sad", as the melody seems to lose its direction towards the bridge, but karaoke fans will have a field day with this one.

Meanwhile, Paul Lee actually turns in the best song of the album with solid opening track Against the Light, a mid-beat ballad with a catchy chorus that elicits an image of Stephanie standing next to a cliff with her arms wide open, singing with the wind blowing on her face. As an opening track, it's as catchy and concert-ready as they come. Paul's sole fast song is A Flourish of Love (Track 8), a time warp to 80s British pop blended with a bit of 60s Motown sassiness that once again sees Stephanie loosening up. It's fun, and it lightens the up the tone of the album, but fails to be as memorable as Peter's Gugigugi.

Other contributors also bring in solid efforts, such as Sleep-walk (Track 3), a classical-inspired ballad that follows up nicely after Against the Light, though it does not make much of an impression. The Stephanie Sun-produced double feature I Need You (Track 10) and There's Something About (Track 11) are in two of Stephanie's most-explored genres - ballad and European midbeat pop. While both are commendable efforts, they don't quite stand out as anything more than side tracks.

Much of Against the Light is business as usual, taking on the typical listener-friendly tone. It achieves its goal by bringing back the old Stephanie Sun, and it does so in a fairly harmless and mature fashion. For fans of Mandarin pop, this is the closest thing to a critic-proof album - it has catchy pop songs that sound fairly original, Stephanie's vocals are as solid as ever, and it even features attractive photos of Stephanie in Egypt (despite the crew's well-publicized run-in with extortionists during the shoot). It's not a standout pop album by any standards, but it does its job well enough that it's already one of the best-selling Mandarin albums of the year. That can obviously mean only one thing: Welcome back, Stephanie. You were missed.

by Kevin Ma