Khalil Fong - Wonderland

01. Love Song
02. 夠不夠
03. 暖
04. 愛在
05. 公園
06. 簡單最浪漫
07. 十九八七....
08. 未來
09. 忘了美麗
10. Sorry
11. 愛愛愛 (Acoustic Version)

Releasing two of the best albums to come out of Hong Kong in recent years, Khalil Fong is sometimes compared to other contemporary Chinese-language R&B-pop artists such as David Tao and Leehom Wang. The comparisons are somewhat valid - they all sing in Mandarin, and they have unique abilities to blend modern pop music with R&B influences. However, for his third album, Wonderland, and his first release aimed for outside Hong Kong, Khalil lives up to his nickname "Soulboy" by leaving the pop influences at home and wearing R&B on his sleeves. For this full-blown soul-R&B album, Khalil draws from soul artists like Marvin Gaye, Curtis Mayfield, Al Green, a bit of 80s R&B pop, and even a bit of Michael Jackson for good measure. The result is a less commercially satisfying album because of its lack of "catchy" ballads, but it's already a frontrunner for one of the best albums of 2008.

While Khalil tried to incorporate other genres into his previous albums, he makes a brave decision to commit to a common tone for the whole album this time. As a result, it may be harder to differentiate some of the tracks on first listen. For example, "Is It Enough" (Track 2), "Warmth" (Track 3), and "Love Is Here" (track 4) seem to share similar rhythms and arrangements. However, further listens begin to reveal differences in each song, most particularly in the melody. While they do share a similar sound (mainly because of the genre), they all work to give a consistently fluid tone to the album.

Perhaps I was somewhat mistaken when I mentioned that Wonderland lacks catchy ballads. It actually starts with "Love Song" (Track 1), a smooth R&B ballad that celebrates the simplicity of a good love song. Written with a message rather than a story in mind (the Khalil-penned lyrics declare itself to be a song that is "not complicated and not hard to sing"), Love Song is a soulful ballad that affects with simple composition and the usual smooth delivery by Khalil. The track not only qualifies as a worthy opening track, but is also poised to be Khalil's most popular song since "Love Love Love" from his previous album. Closing track Sorry (Track 10), penned by David Tao's usual lyricist WaWa, is also a solid ballad, incorporating 80s R&B influence while also infusing Khalil's own vocal style as well, making for a strong track that will most likely become a radio plug.

The best section of the album is when the pace starts the pick up, as the musical tone begins to turn closer to funk. With a bouncy and engaging arrangement, "Park" (Track 5) sees Khalil channeling the vocals of Curtis Mayfield with a track that emphasizes feeling and rhythm more than composition. The following track, "Simplicity is the Most Romantic" (Track 6), is a perfect companion, incorporating rap into the mix without bringing it too close to hip-hop (despite the lyrics being written by Hong Kong rap group Fama). Matched with "10, 9, 8, 7..." (Track 7) to slow the tone down, this middle section gives the album a perfect pacing pick-up while sticking close to its overall tone. As a bonus, there's even a masterful interlude at the end of "10, 9, 8, 7..." that wraps up the section with just the right tone.

However, the album does get a little shaky when it tries to deviate from its genre with titular track Wonderland (Track 8), again written by Fama. The use of electronica deviates too much from the other tracks in terms of tone and rhythm. While the chorus brings the song closer to the tone of the album, Wonderland sounds like it belongs either at the end of the album or in another album altogether. Thankfully, the album gets back on solid ground with the pure R&B track "I've Forgotten Beauty" (Track 9), which stays close to Western R&B in both its abstractly composed melody and the bass and piano-driven arrangement.

Personally, my biggest gratitude to Wonderland is that it doesn't try to make an R&B album that caters to the Chinese market by including a track that features the contrived mix of Chinese traditional instrument and R&B aesthetics. Instead, Wonderland is an R&B album that happens to be sung in the Chinese language. While some may criticize the album as a flattering imitation of his favorite artists, I prefer to call this album a respectful homage. Yes, it does feature a lot of familiar influences, but Khalil always includes them while also injecting his own style of composition and delivery. With Wonderland, Khalil has pulled away from the rest of the pack to prove that he's one of the best soul artists Chinese music has to offer.

Recommended Tracks: Love Song (Track 1), "Is It Enough" (Track 2), "Park" (Track 5), "Simplicity is the Most Romantic" (Track 6), "10, 9, 8, 7..." (Track 7), Sorry (Track 10)

Review By Kevin Ma @ Yesasia