The CD cover of "Search Evan Yo". [Photo: sina.com.cn]

 Hello and welcome to another edition of  China Beat here on China Radio International. This is Zhong Qiu.

Taiwan singer-songwriter Cai Minyou, or Evan Yo returns with his second full-length album, Search Evan Yo. This young artist has been honored with several newcomer awards since his debut in 2006. With his strong music background and creative talents, Evan Yo is becoming one of the most promising newcomers on the Mando-pop scene. His sophomore album features eleven tracks, which are well balanced in variety. With Evan Yo's expressive vocals and imaginative instrumentation, this album shows you both the angelic and the elflike sides of this talented artist. For the rest of the show, we are going on a fancy trip with Evan Yo's music. 

The album opens with the addictive, explosive, pop-rock number 我回来了, I'm Back. It shows off a teenage joker in no-matter-what attitude, yet it is fast and exciting with good vocals. It grabs listeners' ears, and is a cool opening to the album which incorporates a hint of fun.

The next track, Armstrong, goes even further to bring the listeners to a fancy world fabricated by the imaginative Evan Yo. As a pop rock track, it has a quirky instrumentation and presents a dramatic feel. To make it a fun and rebellious track, the clever lyrics and Evan Yo's expressive vocal completes it.

With the fourth track, 希区柯克作品 152, the Hitchcock No.152, Evan Yo brings the dramatic feel of the album to a climax. With a piano solo introduction, this track would make you believe until it builds up to a darker pop-rock number. With a leaning towards alternative rock, it incorporates various sounds to build up the creepy atmosphere, including a bloodcurdling scream and church bells. The use of voice distortion also backs the creepy feel of this song. It is dark and a little weird, but you can't help but like it.

Despite his mature manipulation of music and gaining of fame and wealth, Evan Yo joked that his mental age is yet 3 years old. With his sophomore release, Evan Yo is more relaxed and daring to express himself directly. Imbued in Yo's music is his elfin charm—being delicate yet naughty, even when it comes to love.

我用一首DEMO跟你告白XD literally translates as I Tell You I Love You With A Demo XD. Plus the teasing title, the instrumentation is also fun with its introduction of quirky piano ostinato, and upbeat brass section. To follow the bouncy beat are Evan Yo's happy vocals.

That was I Tell You I Love You With A Demo XD taken from Evan Yo's latest album.

Aside from the uplifting singles, this album also features serious, dark numbers like the sixth track, 没有人要的孩子, The Abandoned Child. It is an angst pop rock song which starts quietly, building up slowly. Evan Yo's straightforward yelling and wordless "hmm"s strengthen the helpless feeling and dark side of the song.

The song we just heard is The Abandoned Child from the album Search Evan Yo. With a rock leaning, this album is balanced with a couple of ballads, like the third track, Stay with Me. It's a bit woe-is-me with the piano and heartbroken strings, but is still quite pretty. Evan Yo gives an emotional vocal performance, and the use of dynamics is nice.

After two years' hiatus from the music industry, Evan Yo is back with his second album, Search Evan Yo, which has nice variety. Evan Yo's musical imagination and gorgeous performance, together with pretty music arrangement and instrumentation makes it a collection of high standard.

With the song, Stay with Me, we come to the end of this edition of  China Beat; and we hope we continue to be surprised by Evan Yo's music creation. This is Zhong Qiu in Beijing wishing you a nice week. Bye for now.