Vietnamese diva My Linh sings out her emotions on her newest album Toc Ngan Acoustic – Mot Ngay (Short Hair Acoustic – One Day) released on July 12.
The product of a five-year collaboration between the diva and band Anh Em (Brothers), the album features nine acoustic songs, all in a funk&soul style. Five of the nine songs were composed by Anh Quan, Linh's husband and the album's producer.
Beyond her role as lead vocalist, the diva also wrote her own lyrics for seven of the songs on the album.
"Emotional feelings swept over me one afternoon as I sat behind my husband on our motorbike, travelling to the countryside. That was the moment I realised that small things can sometimes bring great happiness. For me, it was being close to my beloved ones, smelling the scent of ripe rice fields and listening to the sounds of nature. That moment and that feeling then became the inspiration for lyrics of the song Chieu (The Afternoon)."
While lyrics of the song Gui Anh (To You) are based on her love for her husband, Con Bao (The Storm) lyrics originate in the singer witnessing the lonely children who lost their parents during the tropical storm Chanchu in the central province of Phu Yen in 2009.
The diva's 10-year-old daughter, My Anh joins her for a duet in the song The Storm. Also Linh's oldest daughter, Anna, joins those singing in parts for four songs of the album. The album's quality is a source of pride for Linh and her team; it was sent to the US for mastering by lead engineer Doug Sax. Sax has been involved in several music products of world famous singers and music bands.
Besides the CD version, the album also is available in long-playing (LP) limited edition vinyl records.
According to composer Quan, the LP record truly transmits the musical quality to audiences. "Although it is quite costly to produce LP records, we didn't care because our hard-work over past five years is worth it."
"After the surge of digital music products in Vietnam over past decades, we hope the release of our LP records will make a great impression on music fans," he said.
At the album release ceremony, Linh also showed her desire to be considered the "Sade of Vietnam".
"The acoustic songs by English Grammy-winning singer Sade Adu and her band Sade completely fascinated me. They are my musical idols. I will be extremely happy if Vietnamese fans welcome this album and call me by such nice title," the 36-year-old diva said.
Both the CD and LP versions of the Short Hair Acoustic – One Day, which is 200,000 VND (nearly 10 USD) and 1 million VND (nearly 50 USD), respectively, are available at Phuong Nam bookstores across the country.
The Short Hair Acoustic – One Day also can be found on Itunes. Linh's three previous albums Made in Vietnam, Chat with Mozart, and De Tinh Yeu Hat (Let the Love Sing) were also re-launched on Itunes on July 12./.
TTA1307. Hanoi saves power during first six months
Hanoi (VNA) — Hanoi managed to save around 50 million kWh of electricity during the first half of this year, equivalent to 1.12 percent of the capital's yearly power supply, according to a municipal electricity company (EVN Hanoi) report.
The country's second largest economic and financial centre consumes an average of 15 million kWh of electricity a day.
Power consumption usually soars between June and July. The city used 38.5 million kWh of electricity on July 6 alone and 30.8 million kWh on June 30.
EVN Hanoi's sales department Director Nguyen Anh Tuan said that the increase in electricity consumption occurred due to the simultaneous use of appliances in hot temperatures./.
