A music album that inspires audiences and professionals alike without much media, without the usual top trends, seeding... still conquers listeners with the spirit of the music itself. Very few music products can do what Nu Cuoi does, so that people have to mention it for a long time, until the Lunar New Year 2025.
Album cover Smile
Nguyen Thao, Remedios - the beauty of Vietnamese music
If Remedios - the beauty in Gabriel Garcia Marquez's One Hundred Years of Solitude is a peerless beauty, then Nguyen Thao's "beauty" is her unique and splendid voice and her extremely delicate way of handling songs. And the sad thing is that Remedios - the beauty does not belong to the real world (in the great novel) and Nguyen Thao does not belong to Vietnamese showbiz, so one flew to the sky and the other... has been in hiding for many years!
The Smile was "branded" to be made over 16 years, but perhaps the insiders and those who followed the long journey from Dialogue with God (the original name of the album) all understood that it was 16 years of separation - not continuous. Two years after the debut album Suoi & Co (2006), Nguyen Thao approached musician and producer Vo Thien Thanh to introduce the book as well as ask him to collaborate on an album inspired by the literary work. Vo Thien Thanh quickly found sympathy with her and immediately started composing, he released 3 songs, in order: Suong Co, Nho Em and Da Quy . In 2011, in the joy of the new product, the two let some friends listen to the demo and received a lot of love and expectations. Nguyen Thao even made an exception by bringing Suong Co and Da Quyt to perform for the first time in the program Music Space at the end of 2011 - The sound of the bell to introduce to the audience of the capital Hanoi...
But unfortunately, the project fell into silence without any response. Nguyen Thao appeared in a few shows and then… quietly disappeared from Vietnamese showbiz.
Nguyen Thao and Vo Thien Thanh in the studio
From Dialogue to Smile
There were times when the project was suspended for so long that musician Vo Thien Thanh's passion for the album was almost just patience. He patiently sent the mix and waited for Nguyen Thao to set a date to enter the studio. That wait was sometimes measured in years, not days. Because anyone who has worked with Nguyen Thao understands her personality - meticulous and... extremely slow. For Thao to memorize the lyrics of a song, think, and find the fastest way to process the song, it would take a month, and for a completely new song it would take even longer. And the person who accepted this patient challenge was none other than Vo Thien Thanh, because for him - the songs composed for this project, if not performed by Nguyen Thao, would not be performed by anyone else, and would be kept in storage forever as time has proven.
From Smile , a small fever was created by the music itself, by Nguyen Thao's voice and the compositions of Vo Thien Thanh...
The "scratched" look of the Smile
Regarding the delay of the album, musician Vo Thien Thanh shared: "When I have time, Nguyen Thao is busy and vice versa, maybe God has not arranged enough fate!". And the remaining 3 songs of Nu Cuoi were performed in the true sense of the word "continuously" from then until 2024. Perhaps that is why musician Vo Thien Thanh intentionally arranged the story of the album in the correct chronological order of the recordings, just like what he and the singer "dialogued" with each other through music.
Even with Children in Heaven , a song about child abuse that he wanted to release many times as a way to share his sympathy and anger with society, but had to "hide" it and wait for Nguyen Thao. Smile (formerly known as Smile in the Sky ) was recorded in 2023. Thao recorded the song while he had a cold, but perhaps that's why the recording was covered with a layer of "scratches" to convey the messages that the composer embedded in the soul song that is considered the heaviest on the album, both musically and spiritually. Later, Nguyen Thao herself proposed to re-record the above song as well as the songs that had been recorded for more than 10 years, but Vo Thien Thanh insisted on using the first recordings because to him, those first recordings contained many emotions, the brightest and most beautiful moments of Nguyen Thao's voice that would never have been possible if recorded again. Therefore, listeners will feel that the singers' voices in these tracks may not be consistent, but that is maturity, the beauty of a moment in time is something that never repeats.
The last song of the album - Suddenly Remembering One Day - was also the last song recorded, in mid-2024. The album (or to be exact, the mini album) originally consisted of only 5 songs, the last track was actually a bonus track because it was not written for the project but was originally an old song performed by Nguyen Thao with Hoang Hai, now remade in a completely different new age style from the previous ballad with many climaxes. Recalling the feeling when completing the recording, musician Vo Thien Thanh said that it took Nguyen Thao a whole month to absorb the arrangement, when she stepped into the studio, his heart skipped a beat like someone "holding his breath crossing a river", because he was afraid that she would "get addicted" to the old singing style and not be able to express the minimalism of the new harmony with the piano sound simulating each bell ringing evenly. However, when Nguyen Thao completed the recording, Vo Thien Thanh knew that this was the final song of the album and also the time when Nu Cuoi should be brought to light, there could be no more hesitation!
For a long time, Nguyen Thao felt "indebted" and "guilty" to the audience, so this is also an opportunity for her to repay her fans.
Response from Vo Thien Thanh
When the album's release date was announced, there were many doubts about Vo Thien Thanh and Nguyen Thao. The doubts were not without basis, such as: what would an album be like after 16 years? Or what would the voice of a singer who no longer sings be like? The album was made after 16 years but had too few songs... However, both of them remained silent, waiting for the day to release the product. Nguyen Thao still did not appear in public, there was no big press conference, except for a few small shares about the music of both of them on their personal pages. Yet music lovers were still excited to listen to it on digital applications and encouraged each other to order physical discs. A small fever was created by the music itself, by Nguyen Thao's voice and Vo Thien Thanh's compositions, the sincerity finally found its way to the real public!
When releasing the album, Nguyen Thao was the happiest person, she was delighted because her "brainchild" was finally released. Moreover, for a long time, she felt "indebted" and "guilty" to the audience, so this was also an opportunity for her to repay her fans. Of the physical version, Thao reserved a few hundred copies to give to friends and fans before the official release.
As for Vo Thien Thanh, as a producer, he has answers to many questions. In the album, he intentionally used only Nguyen Thao's voice, no duets, not even a backing group (except for the main vocal part in Nho em ). All just to honor a voice that is so beautiful, pure and innocent. In Nu cuoi , Nguyen Thao was able to exploit what belongs to the ego of a highland singer without being influenced by anyone else. In terms of music, Vo Thien Thanh has proven that the value of good songs does not lie in when it was released and if it is "good" then of course it is "good", not depending on how the music is made with a live band or sequencer/programming. On the other hand, in his opinion, music is "good" because of the emotions it brings, not because of the format. Because of this, he and Nguyen Thao released it on all digital platforms (including free ones like YouTube) before the physical version so that Nu Cuoi could be closer to the public.
The CD has 6 songs, however, perhaps the delicious dishes are not many dishes to make diners crave to come back. Vo Thien Thanh, like an experienced chef, used premium ingredients (Nguyen Thao's voice) to create a small but special banquet that in Nu Cuoi , any audience can find a favorite song as well as sympathize with the message in the work.
Source: https://thanhnien.vn/nghe-nu-cuoi-cua-nguyen-thao-den-thuong-de-cung-phai-mim-cuoi-185250127215120464.htm
Comment (0)