Ivana Wong 2006 New Album (CD+DVD) (2nd Edition) DVD Region All

Chinese wordplay aside, one can easily see that the theme of Ivana's new album is pictures - painting pictures, painters of pictures, picturing things, etc. Even the album cover is a painting by Korean-American artist Jenna Sohn, complete with its own frame. Helping to create that picturesque feeling this time is legendary lyricist Lin Xi. As the first lyricist to pen lyrics for an Ivana album, he is responsible for the lyrics for six of the ten tracks on "Picturesque". While many of Lin Xi's lyrics in recent years have gradually lost their impact, giving way to the usual karaoke-friendly pop love rants, here he delivers a set of lyrics that complement much of Ivana's vision. One standout is the third track, "(Paris Has No) Ferris Wheel", where he literally asks the listeners to picture a girl's fantasy, creating a cinematic narrative that ends in bittersweet melancholy.

Unlike her comparatively risky 2005 album I Love My Name, Ivana fills "Picturesque" with listener-friendly ballads, and lots of it. While Ivana's previous ballads emphasized unusual arrangements that either kept things interesting or alienated listeners completely, Ivana has turned to easy-listening melody and arrangements, much like the songs she writes for her fellow pop artists. The winning key to her successful ballads usually lies in their simplicity, but this album's ballads do not keep things simple. Instead, they feel like more complexly written versions of other ballads. Anyone looking for the strange Ivana from her earlier song "Thunder" will probably turn away disappointed. Nevertheless, there are a few strong ballads, such as "An Interest for Pictures" (Track 2), which tells the story of legendary painter Vincent Van Gogh and his struggles. Ivana also closes out the album strongly with "I Really Love You" (Track 10), a ballad that marks Ivana's return to simplicity disguised as a straightforward declaration of love. The lyrics, by Ivana herself, are as simple as they come ("I really love you/I need you/I have you/afraid of losing you"), but Ivana's vocals will cause anyone's heart to melt.

More so than her previous albums, Ivana shows off her playful side in "Picturesque" with title track "Love for Poems" (Track 1), "Time That has Melted the Clock" (Track 4), and "Flying With My Lover" (Track 7). Ivana's sweet voice, along with the unusually playful arrangements by The Invisible Men lifts "Picturesque" when it most needs the energy. While "Picturesque" shows Ivana reverting back into a more commercial-friendly sound, it also shows that producers The Invisible Men, led by hip-hopster Hanjin Chan, can strip off their penchant for overproduction with some underappreciated acoustic energy. Thanks to their work, "Picturesque" is Ivana's most comfortable album yet.

However, there is a thin line between comfortable and lukewarm, and "Picturesque" hangs around that line far too often. After a promising opening, the album turns back to the crowd-pleasing ballads that, thanks to the likeness of Ivana's voice to Faye Wong's, sound far too much like something out of early 90s Cantopop. To those who like Ivana's voice but not her unusually arranged Cantopop-cum-European-experimental-music hybrids, this may be the album they are waiting for. After all, the team has managed to produce an album with playful melody, strong vocals, and poetic lyrics. "Picturesque" may be the most crowd-pleasing Ivana album yet, and it'll surely achieve its intentions as an attention-getter for the upcoming awards. However, from one of the most promising songwriters in the recent years, "Picturesque" is also a bit underwhelming.

by Kevin Ma