Standing on the Verge of a Rainbow, Finding at17's 《YELLOW》...

My Rating: 72/100

Track List:

01. 二百歲少女
02. 依然 . 親愛的 (Feat. 林嘉欣)
03. 101727
04. The Moon
05. 流浪到彼岸

Five tracks, but only three new songs. 二百歲少女 and 流浪到彼岸 has the same melody. The Moon is the demo of 101727. Yellow, however, has a more concise theme than Orange, which was released in July. Orange was an introduction to the entire project, the theme song Over The Rainbow will be my favorite song of the year. But the EP itself lacked a focused theme, it seems like the comments were read and considered.

The second volume of the OVER THE RAINBOW project uses the color of yellow as a theme - Yellow is the sharpest, most eye-catching color of the rainbow, but it fades away faster than its comarades... very much like the years of youth. Good concept, thoughtful idea, greater expectation... what's the outcome? Let's discuss it song by song.

依然 . 親愛的 (Feat. 林嘉欣) :

First plug of the EP, very soothing, laid back, folk-jazzy arrangement... tempting! Karena Lam's sweet and gentle voice as voiceover, playing the grown up version of title character, remembering an ex-best friend and all the promises they made together. But as time went by, their friendship ended. Perhaps they drifted away as life took them in different directions, we don't know, the point is, it's over and you can't go back...

你話你鍾意關淑怡 (親愛的), 我話我鍾意林憶蓮 (依然)...
你話 你想一齊開間老人院...
如果係宜家 你仲會唔會... 會唔會咁陪我呀?

Friendships, no matter how close you once were or are right now, will drift apart, fade away eventually. Just like the color of yellow. I guess everyone, myself included, has experienced a similar situation...

101727 / The Moon:

越大越易自由暢泳？或是越大越難輕鬆高興?... That's probably the theme of 101727, the likely 2nd plug of the EP. Haven't heard such a hard rockin' song from at17 in a while, and it's really refreshing! The aforementioned line was replaying in my head on the day of my convocation. 10 + 17 = 27. When I'm 27 yrs old, will I become the person I wanted to be when I was 17? I'm turning 22 in December, half way between the starting point and finish line. On a macro level, I think I'm working my way there. All I need is a kick-start in my career... I guess.

As for The Moon, it's Ellen's solo demo. And is it beautiful or what? When I first heard it on the radio, I thought the mood and the inflictions of her voice was very Feist-esque... It's the tranquility and softness that makes this demo so special... so down-to-earth. Ever since 無家想歸 of the Bian Bian Bian album, I've come to fully appreciate the special voice that Ellen has. No, it's not as beautiful as 二汶's. But it's exactly why there's so much possibility for her to adapt to different genres, and it's the versatility of her voice, guitar playing, and song-writing that makes up a big part of at17's unique style.

二百歲少女 / 流浪到彼岸:

I like the lyrics of Cantonese version 二百歲少女 a lot of more than the original Mandarin version... At least there's the positive and encouraging message about life in it. The Mandarin version lyrics are way too bubbly... it's more for Twins or Cookies or HotCha... not at17. In terms of the melody, it's very fun and upbeat but there isn't much to it, just OK for me.... not as good as the previously discussed tracks!