The past year has been a momentous one for American-Jewish-Taiwanese accompanist Alisa Galper. After her win on the Taiwan aptitude appearance One Million Star (the island’s acknowledgment to American Idol), she was bound active by Universal Music Taiwan, who anon began touting her as “Asia’s Rihanna.” The allegory isn’t too fanciful, and what she lacks in the Barbadian singer’s adroit ease, she makes up for in ambit and diversity.
Alisa has spent abounding months alive on her eponymous, bilingual admission — and she absolutely has a voice. Her aboriginal single, “Hound Dog,” a awning of the aboriginal Elvis favorite, adds a throaty, R&B vibe to the song’s agitation swagger. It’s one allotment candied and two genitalia sultry, giving the gender about-face a animal twist. Elsewhere, she shows a aptitude for duets, such as in the Mandarin carol “Unexpected,” counterpointing American-born Taiwan accompanist Will Pan’s bland tones in a address that neither controls nor submits. (Asia’s best bands.)
Unfortunately, the blow of the anthology avalanche predictably into two bartering mainstays: the ostentatiously scored, teen-baiting adulation carol (“Iron Butterfly”) and candidly active vocals underpinned with broken-down electro beats (“Rock Your Body”). Both sorts are abundantly produced here, and disappointment sets in not at their presentation but at the abeyant wasted. Alisa has the aptitude to gun for analytical approval. But she is actuality steered instead against bartering safety.
