Mystery (CD+DVD) (Taiwan Edition) DVD Region All

Though Mystery is primarily a ballad affair, it ventures readily out of karaoke territory, and Yoga shows surprising vocal versatility in the way he handles different types of potentially similar songs. Yoga has mentioned on numerous occasions that he admires Eason Chan, and indeed he seems to be following the latter's example with this album. It'll take time to reach Eason Chan's ability to turn out non-mainstream music popular with the mainstream crowd, but this is a very promising beginning for the twenty-year-old upstart who less than a year ago defied expectations by singing Radiohead's Creep during the One Million Star finale.

Mystery begins with "Eye Color" (Track 1) composed by singer-songwriter James Li Quan. One Million Star followers may recall that Yoga made his first breakthrough on the music show with his cover of James Li's "Tightrope Walker" so it feels appropriate that a James Li composition should open the young singer's solo career. From the varied melody to distinctive lyrics, this dramatic ballad feels like something out of a musical, and Yoga's interpretation reveals both his promise and inexperience. Some sudden vocal transitions and short, overpronounced enunciation (a Yoga Lin specialty) lend the first half of the song an inconsistent air, but this volatility aids the song as it builds in the second half. Yoga's performance improves as the song progresses, and he handles very well the later portions when the volume, tempo, and emotions crescendo. I would love to hear Eason Chan or, better yet, Jacky Cheung give a go at "Eye Color", but Yoga's rendition passes marks as it is.

The album's second song is its title track "Mystery Guest" (Track 2), a catchy, moody karaoke ballad that has been getting heavy airplay. Great melody and arrangement from up-and-coming songwriter Zheng Nan and solid vocals from Yoga make up for the unremarkable lyrics. It is particularly the presence of simple, but striking ballads like "Mystery Guest", "Heart Has Twilight" (Track 9) also by Zheng Nan, Bole (Track 4), and "Cruel Moonlight" (Track 7) that invites comparison to Eason Chan. "Cruel Moonlight" is even composed and arranged by usual Eason Chan collaborators Chen Hsiao Hsia and Chan Fai Young. This ballad has an old-school tune that Yoga doesn't quite bring to the present day, but his soft and smooth interpretation gives the song a different charm. He also channels a bit of Leehom Wang in the conversational air and high notes of "Please Speak" (Track 5) and the laidback R&B flow of "Love is Round" (Track 3).

Yoga gives jazz a go in "Sickness" (Track 6), an easygoing jazz number with an indistinct melody and predictable arrangement that conversely allow the vocal to shine. His vocals are probably the strongest though in "Slow Down" (Track 8), a great mid-tempo number by singer-songwriter Xiao Yu with outstanding instrumental and choral arrangement. Though less expressive than other ballads in the album, "Slow Down" floats interestingly between being a fast number that feels slow and a slow number that feels fast, and Yoga comfortably covers a wide vocal and tempo range. Listen for the perfect ending syllables of each line.

Mystery ends strongly in spirit with "Goodbye Cambridge" (Track 10), a silky, lyrical ballad that soars softly into the stratosphere. Mystery ends less strongly in actuality with bonus track "Legend", a duet with newcomer Jade Liu. Perhaps the makers of the album also recognized how much the song doesn't fit in with the rest, hence the conceit of calling it a "bonus". Certainly, the song is located in the right place, because playing it elsewhere would have broken the flow of the album. "Legend" is generally a solid, if less-than-trendy ballad for the karaoke market sung by two singers with strong voices, but their voices don't really match up. Jade Liu has an extremely clear, sharp, and precise voice that seems to hark back to the 80s and early 90s, whereas Yoga has more of a new-generation free-form vocal style. Their alternating lines seem to belong to songs from different decades, which admittedly makes "Legend" interesting in another way.

One of the biggest hurdles for singing contest winners is bridging the gap between singing well and being a singer, and Yoga Lin has done it here, turning his distinct voice into recognizable hits of his own. As in the case of Aska Yang, Yoga Lin is too well known already to be simply termed a newcomer, and his premature star status comes with both benefits and baggage that have been thankfully translated into a very worthwhile solo debut album. For now, Yoga seems to be chasing the footsteps of Eason Chan, but at this point in his career, that's not a bad place to be.