It's not easy for Vietnamese pop music to have another Thanh Lam.

Thanh Lam has just released the album Cuon phim - Photo: NVCC

Many times Thanh Lam did not stop as someone wanted, even though her vocal ability was more than enough, she could sing anything. The audience said "she ruined the song", "she just screamed and yelled". Lam knew everything, but she still chose to "release", to unleash all her artistic nature, regardless of praise or criticism.

Lam is like that, a very honest person, in life, love and singing. For more than 30 years, since Vietnamese pop music has developed brilliantly, it seems that no voice has surpassed the "queen".

In the film, Thanh Lam listened and tried to express her life experiences to sing warmly, lovingly and intimately.

Thanh Lam's film

But just like the lyrics of the song "The Movie", life flows like a multi-episode movie where the next day sometimes does not start from the previous day. Thanh Lam has just returned with a very suitable album, collaborating with Nguyen Vinh Tien (composer) and Tran Duc Minh (music director).

The film includes 12 songs - Phai mo, Don't wait anymore, Hoa dang dinh, Giai han, Kieu ca, Ma non ro muc, Cat tien duyen, Cuon phim, Tren canh sau non, Giac mo cua cha, Tuong phu the, Tren dinh Ngoa Van - selected from hundreds of songs that Nguyen Vinh Tien wrote from 2012 - 2022.

There is a whole world where Nguyen Vinh Tien "flew like a heartbroken bird" and Thanh Lam's mid-low, calm, negative, feminine, romantic, and contemporary folk singing blends with the film in a mesmerizing way.

The album depicts the portrait of the singer Thanh Lam at this stage. Still mysterious and full, but goes deeper into the hearts of the audience with the most intimate and emotional music.

Thanh Lam's voice is sometimes quiet, sometimes bright. She sings as if she wants to go into the fog, as if thirsting for a river full of soul but with a leisurely attitude, full of stories and sharing.

That world has a modern ghostly quality with faint traces still lingering in the mind, both near and far. A world that seems to exist and not exist. Dry leaves fall all over the roots, faded loves, childhood fish splashing, sweaty footsteps...

The melody, the lyrics, the voice weave a beautiful dream that has passed but cannot be forgotten. The music is like poetry, like painting, like a whole movie that evokes a desolate land.

The theme song of the album The Movie

In this album, Tran Duc Minh, the man behind Ha Tran's album Nhung ngon song ngon tay last year, continues to have sophisticated arrangements, fully exploiting Nguyen Vinh Tien's music and Thanh Lam's voice.

Piano, bass, drums, flute, zither, erhu, bamboo flute, and bamboo flute instruments... run throughout the album to support the vocals.

In Giai Han, the use of distorted sounds echoing like loudspeakers evokes an endless, vast space. In Phai Mo, the use of pop and rock like "boiling" sunlight on the long ditch really "fits" with the singer's energetic performance. Or in Ma Non Ro Hong, the rhythm is completely different and bustling.

The song " Dream of Father" by Thanh Lam is sung in a very "lunar" way, like telling a story, like confiding, causing emotion. The album ends with " On the top of Ngoa Van" , the music is very meditative but still very modern. No two songs are alike.

Thanh Lam (middle) blends in with her Gen Z "grandchildren" in Our song - Photo: BTC

Thanh Lam is still... on the road

Famous since the 1990s, Thanh Lam conquered audiences with her beautiful, individual, bold and instinctive voice, and was the "queen of pop music". Musician Duong Thu once called her "Vietnam's leading technical pop voice".

It has been more than 30 years, although there have been many new generations of young singers, many musical trends and styles have come and gone, but Thanh Lam is still there. Although someone still argues about the title "diva", people still have to admit: it is not easy for Vietnamese pop music to have another Thanh Lam.

Thanh Lam is still full of energy on stage - Photo: FBNV

In her generation, many people have temporarily stopped singing as if their mission had ended. Thanh Lam still goes to shows like she goes to the market. Every time she goes on stage, she is full of energy. Then she participates in game shows to "play" with her "grandchildren", integrating with Gen Z music.

On the Our Song stage , Thanh Lam not only sings well but is also humorous, the audience jokingly calls her "the people's comedian". Seeing Thanh Lam wearing ao ba ba and swinging on a rope to sing Ao moi Ca Mau , many people were scared but she still smiled brightly.

Audiences met a Thanh Lam who was calmer, more mellow, but closer to the new audience. Her voice was still full of secrets and emotions of a woman who always sang honestly and eagerly about everything in life.

It turns out that Thanh Lam has never compromised with the labels that someone has given her. She rejected everything to embark on new adventures. That contemporary is still on the road, in the blooming seasons of an artist's life.

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