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ChinaMusicReview

Hua Chenyu – New World

Hua Chenyu (Chinese: 华晨宇; pinyin: Huá Chényǔ;  also known as Hua Hua (Chinese: 花花), is a Chinese singer and songwriter. Hua has powerful vocals, dramatic stage performances and talents in composing. He is often recognized as one of the most influential singer-songwriters in China. Hua became famous after winning the 2013 Super Boy singing contest which was produced by Hunan TV, China. He released his debut album Quasimodo’s Gift in September 2014, whose sales volume had ranked Top 1 in the Jingdong Top 100 Annual Sales Chart (Music). His first personal branded concert, “Mars” Concert, was held in Beijing on September 6, 2014, even before his debut album was released. Over 10,000 tickets were sold out within two minutes, breaking several records and making him the first Mainland Chinese singer of his generation to hold concerts in a large arena. An additional concert on September 7 was then announced and sold out due to high demand. Releasing his forth album NEW WORLD in April of 2020 further cementing his status as a superstar, every single song has intense powers and show off this mans vocal capabilities. In my honest opinion no one should sleep on Hua Chenyu.

 

NEW WORLD was released on USB in three types, side a, b and c. The USB however was incorporated into a beautiful red necklace which in it’s own is unique and to me shows the artmansship that Hua Chenyu embodies. In an interview with Bandwagon.asia Hua Chenyu explains his writing process and the struggles he had to finish the lyrics. You can read it by clicking the link here: Hua Chenyu and his New World

Listening to the album the first thing that I notice is that the melodies match with his voice perfectly and it’s an album to listen to no matter what mood you are in and it will lift your spirits with the perfect balance of music and voice.

Side A

  1. Bullfight (斗牛)
  2. I’m Here (好想爱这个世界啊)
  3. Madhouse (疯人院)
  4. Conversations with ET (与火星的孩子对话)
  5. Split (七重人格)
  6. God Tree / Sacred Tree (神树)
  7. Arrival (降临)
  8. New World (新世界)

Side B

  1. Walk As Long As You Can (尋)
  2. I’m Boring (無聊人)
  3. Wu Kong (齊天)
  4. IQ Two Hundred and Fifty (智商二五零)
  5. Jackdaw Youth (寒鴉少年)
  6. Candle (蠟燭)

Side C

  1. Conversations with ET MV
  2. Bullfight MV
  3. 2018 Hua Chenyu Mars Concert Documentary

 

Review

The album starts out with Bullfight (斗牛), it starts with a menacing riff followed by an aggressive rap like verse going into a strong voiced HuaHua. The song is strong and flows into a beautiful what seems like slow motion feeling like extraterrestrial vibes or the world in the distant future sound. it has sound effects that you would hear in movies like Star Wars.  It’s really beautiful and for me this song always hypes me up to get started with whatever I have to do that day.

Next on the playlist is I’m Here (好想爱这个世界啊) which starts off really soft and sweet and HuaHua’s voice goes into matching the music perfectly and you can feel and hear the sadness if the song in the end of it, I looked up the lyrics to understand and as much as I could figure out it feels like the song is about losing someone and grief/feeling lost. It is really beautiful and I really urge everyone to listen to this song. Following this heartfelt song comes Madhouse (疯人院), This song starts of slow but has quite the intensity as it goes on. it’s about feeling lost and it is a mix of rap like verses but also slow drawn out bridges and the feeling of the song is rather good.

Hua Chenyu Sitting at a table with an astronaut in floral shirt. an inflatable trex looking in through the window
 

Conversations with ET (与火星的孩子对话) is a song written with his fans, as his fans are called ET or Martian Child, the feeling of the song is intense, it starts as a weak conversation where HuaHua exposes all his insecurities and loneliness but ET shows him it doesn’t matter because they will love him no matter what. It’s a powerful ballad written and sung in a conversational way and it gives me goosebumps to read the translations. Split (七重人格) starts off totally off key and weird, followed by some heavy guitar riffs for a second. A slow guitar playing three chords and HuaHua singing slow and building up the tension of the song in the end it’s almost like heavy metal and it’s awesome, I love this song as it’s such a surprise to hear. God Tree / Sacred Tree (神树) having read the meaning and inspiration of this song in the interview I linked above, this song is about a single seed of a tree starts growing within the rubble and the concrete jungle that it China and slowly takes over until the city is nothing more than nature. With the building of the song, in my mind I can see the plants grow until the final end off the song. HuaHua’s voice is rough and pure at the same time and it gives a different vibe to the feeling of the song. also one of my most favorite songs of the album. Arrival (降临) and New World (新世界) are the last two songs that I could listen, I can’t find any more on Spotify.  Arrival is a slow etheral song and reading the lyrics I can’t fully pinpoint the feelings or meaning of it but it’s slow and great. New World is an anthem about freedom, It’s slow and pure and it’s a hype up song. I love it, Hua Chenyu really shows his feelings but also his artistry in the song. I would love to see this song live and sing along to it as loud as possible.

 

Please give a listen to this album and all the coming albums. Hua Chenyu is a true artist.

 

 

Social media

Youtube • 華晨宇 HuaChenYu

Spotify • Hua Chen Yu

YouTube Music • Hua Chenyu

Deezer • 無聊人 – 華晨宇

Instagram • 华晨宇 (@huachenyu)

Weibo • Hua Chenyu

 

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