In distinction, Di-Dar, her second album of the yr—in addition to Wong’s last (and most interesting) Cantonese album—is extra atmospheric, nearly psychedelic. The spectral dream pop of “假期” (“Trip”) pairs flickering synths with gothic guitar licks, whereas “(無題)” (“Untitled”) is a burbling trip-hop ballad that layers Wong’s gossamer falsetto over a sputtering digital beat and tabla-like percussion. Even its most radio-friendly songs, just like the radiant industrial success “曖昧” (“Ambiguous”), undertake orchestral preparations that give them equally vivid and luxurious textures. Di-Dar coheres like an prolonged dream, but beneath its haze are vignettes that sketch a deteriorating relationship. The album’s lyrics (apart from the Mandarin nearer) had been written by shut collaborator Albert Leung, who fixates on the unease Wong introduced on 討好自己 Please Myself, suffusing the album’s romanticism with a way of hysteria and the burning want to vanish.

These themes function closely on Wong’s final album for Cinepoly, 1996’s insular 浮躁 Fuzao—which greatest interprets to “stressed” or “impetuous.” Making no concessions to mainstream tastes, she was extra creatively concerned on this album than wherever else in her profession. For 浮躁 Fuzao, she pulled away from her frequent Hong Kong-based collaborators, as an alternative turning to Dou and one other Beijing rock musician, Zhang Yadong, for preparations. Regardless of his lack of involvement for the document, her longtime producer, Alvin Leong, facilitated a working relationship between her and the Cocteau Twins, who had change into considering collaborating after listening to her trustworthy renditions of their work. They contribute two authentic tracks that land on the wispier finish of the spectrum of their work. Whereas the songs nonetheless match firmly throughout the group’s oeuvre—the resplendent spotlight “分裂” (“Divide”) floats over a mattress of light synths and dainty coos, whereas the ghostly “掃興” (“Spoilsport”) staggers atop murky guitar textures—Wong makes them her personal, her clearer enunciation lending substantive that means to a band well-known for its cryptic lyrics. Wong composed the remainder of the album’s songs, usually borrowing liberally from the Scottish group’s model. On “哪兒” (“The place”), she hums, coos, and babbles in incoherent syllables, her voice a unprecedented instrument that imbues every observe with pleasure amid the turmoil.

But 浮躁 Fuzao isn’t merely a pastiche of the Cocteau Twins; the album’s producers steep the music within the sounds of Beijing’s nascent rock scene. Dou condenses a decade’s price of types into the miniature world of its opener because the music weaves from shimmering guitar to sharp, probing downtempo synths. Zhang’s lighthearted manufacturing on the title observe is a candy callback to Wong’s transient infatuation with jangle pop. Her voice bounds between jubilant shouts and apprehensive coos, ripping the music aside till it dissolves into digital froth. It’s not simply these exterior influences that set her aside—her reserved but playfully mischievous nature permeates the album.

Wong would by no means be afforded the chance to do one other 浮躁 Fuzao. On her later blockbuster albums, she was pressured to steadiness her idiosyncratic tastes together with her label’s industrial aims. However on these 4 data, she resists straightforward categorization, directly ethereal and eccentric, and refreshingly freed from the easy romanticism of her interval friends. Wong pulled the unfamiliar to the floor by highlighting sounds not often explored and anxieties continuously left untouched, but her elegant voice provided soothing, intimate consolation. Wong’s music of this era represents a welcome embrace of the undefined.