Music Album Review: Wanting Qu’s “Everything in the World”

Everything in the World 我的歌聲裡
by Wanting Qu

Language: Mandarin and English
Released by Nettwerk Music Group on July 5, 2012

Rating: 

Imagine cozying up in a small café with a warm latte in hand on a cold, rainy day and being lost deep in thought. Wanting Qu’s (曲婉婷) soothing vocals accompanied by relaxing ballads provides a perfect backdrop for this scenario.

It’s no wonder that the China-born Canadian-based singer catapulted to stardom when director Pang Ho Cheung (彭浩翔) discovered Wanting’s music while it was playing at a Beijing coffee shop. In fact, it was her song, Drenched, that inspired the script for the megahit Hong Kong film, Love in the Buff <春嬌與志明>.

Looking For Somebody
Looking For Somebody

Everything in the World is Wanting’s debut full-length studio album, and it showcases the talented artist’s song-writing and singing capability in both English and Mandarin. Her soulful vocals add an extra layer of emotion and drama to her songs, which is a breath of fresh air amongst today’s mainstream Asian pop singers.

Thumbs Up:

Drenched was one of my favorites. The poetic lyrics coupled with the melody played like a dramatic music video. I can definitely imagine this to be a popular song for karaoke.

The namesake of the album, Everything In The World, has a light and refreshing tempo to it, which I liked because it was a bit different from the slow ballads in the album.

Jar of Hearts is the most upbeat song to the album which I definitely appreciated, given all the other songs in the album had a slower tempo. Wanting’s soulful voice and the way she expressed herself in this song reminded me of The Cranberries at times.

Last but not least, the chart-topping Mandarin You Exist in My Song <我的歌声里> has all the elements to make it an easy favorite. After all, Wanting wrote this song specially for Love in a Buff and it has been hitting the airwaves ever since.

Thumbs Down:

Listening to the entire album in one sitting, I cannot help but zone out from time to time because while Wanting’s vocals are very smooth, her music does not showcase a wide range of notes. At times, the tempos felt a bit too familiar and by the end of the last track on the album, I could not recall some of the earlier songs I had listened to.

Recommended Tracks:

Drenched

[vsw id=”mZPjyWPYP7s” source=”youtube” width=”425″ height=”344″ autoplay=”no”]

You Exist in My Song <我的歌声里>

[vsw id=”w0dMz8RBG7g” source=”youtube” width=”425″ height=”344″ autoplay=”no”]

This review is written by Natalie for JayneStars.com.

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Responses

  1. Music album reviews are a new feature on JayneStars! We are excited to offer more music coverage on our site! Let us know what you think!

  2. Wanting Qu? Interesting name. Music album reviews is one territory I won’t wander into. Too personal. But good music is good music. Thanks for the review!

  3. The 2 songs uploaded are the only ones I have listened and both are great. Not sure if the entire album is as good.

    Anyway she is a very talented singer who writes her own song that’s talent, *thumbs up*

    1. I was quite impress with drenched, however, I haven’t managed to like other songs from her. And this version don’t seem as raw, emotional, and strong like the one in the first article on Jayne about her. It’s nice, but the other version is just so much more powerful and you appreciate her lovely voice.

  4. I read that she was born in Harbin, China, not Taiwan. Can someone confirm that?

  5. her songs can only be appreciated after listening to it a few times. the first time i listened to “you exist in my song”, I didn’t find it very different from all the pop songs. but the next few times i listened to it, it just grew on me. i like the piano melody

  6. yay for music reviews. if you can have drama reviews why not music reviews. but hope the writers will talk about more recent albums so people can decide whether to buy or not.
    looking forward to future articles ^^
    btw like this format of review and wouldn’t mind a song by song comment

  7. I really like the songs, not sure about her voice and accent though.

  8. As oppose to a American born Korean who claims she is a devout chrsitian who says she never had any plastic surgery

  9. I remember months ago when the Making of Love in the Buff was aired on Astro – that was the first time I heard Wanting’s voice. I was just so hooked and went to Google and became a fan immediately.

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