The band around hyped singer, songwriter and new darling of Beijing's underground scene Helen Feng (冯海宁), Nova Heart, just released its first album, also entitled 'Nova Heart'. Music mags and other media around the world have nearly gone wild about the 'Chinese Blondie', as Feng soon was dubbed, and her band colleagues Bo Xuan (bass), Wang Hui (aka Loop :: guitar) and Atom (from Hedgehog :: drums).
But the Beijing-based combo is so much more than just a cheap replica of former heroines and heroes of international indie pop / rock or however you want to tag the respective sounds.
In a recent interview for the German weekly 'Die Zeit', lead vocalist Feng was asked about her general impression of China's current music scene, the role of censorship or why there seems to be no compass in life any more. Acknowledging the relative backwardness of the Chinese music industry, Feng said:
'Absolutely. Metaphorically speaking, we are just like a child learning to walk. For a few steps, he or she is able to stand up but then falls down again. It's a phase of learning we are experiencing right now.
With regard to China, this holds true doubly because the effects of the Cultural Revolution are still felt: Nobody is interested in tradition, everything new and foreign is perceived as good. I totally get it when people say: Hey, you Asians are quite unoriginal. It's all about absorbing different influences and styles for now.'
(Zeit Online, Oct. 20; original text in German, my translation)
(For another German-language interview, see here. Two interview pieces in English can be found here and here).
Overall, 'Nova Heart', the band's debut full-length album, sounds anything but structured; the alluring voice of the pop diva herself leads you into sinister, surreal and bleak worlds - take your chances and listen to the track below (for more on Nova Heart / Helen Feng, see the band's SoundCloud site or visit the official page).
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