Shuffle And Repeat

Single Review
Tiana Xiao – Kanashii Uso

Kanashii Uso is Tiana Xiao’s 3rd single. It was released on May 20, 2009, making it the first single to be released for a new era.

tracklist:
1. Kanashii Uso
2. Promise
3. You’re My Heart
4. Kanashii Uso (Instrumental)
5. Promise (Instrumental)
6. You’re My Heart (Instrumental)

After a year rest from releasing her debut album, Tiana goes back to the spotlight and brings Kanashii Uso. Despite how long I had to wait for something new to come from her, the long time wait was worth it because Kanashii Uso IS Tiana’s strongest single to date. It may not be my most favorite single from her, but It really is the strongest from all the 3 she has released. You can hear Tiana hitting the high notes right, you can hear that her Japanese has gotten a lot better, and her voice sounds so polished this time. The urbany background suited Tiana’s unique voice, but I was really hoping to see more action in this song. But believe me, I am liking what I am hearing.

Seeing some heavy-beat B-sides from Tiana’s previous singles, I was expecting something like that as a b-side from this single. But I guess Tiana wanted us to hear something quite different from her. Promise, being the first B-side here, is a really beautiful ballad. Tiana’s voice has never been this gorgeous before, which makes me really happy because this was something really different from Tiana. Well, she had ballads from her debut album before, but this ballad was just really different from the ones she sang on that release. The calm arrangement really helped set the mood for the next ballad, and it really helped Tiana’s vocals to shine here.

The final ballad, You’re My Heart, was alright. Nothing too amazing, because Tiana’s voice sounded a little shaky, and pitchy at times, especially when it reahed the near-end part, where she adlibs during the chorus. I wasn’t too fond about the effect on her voice during the final chorus because it doesn’t suit the feeling. The arrangement was indeed beautiful, but Tiana needed a little tweaking on her voice.

Favorite Track:
Kanashii Uso

shuffle rating!
A-

Single Review
Tiana Xiao – KIZUNA

KIZUNA is Tiana Xiao’s 2nd major single. It was released on April 23, 2008, making it the last, and second single to be released for the album, desTiny.

tracklist:
1. KIZUNA
2. Painting
3. KIZUNA (Instrumental)
4. Painting (Instrumental)

Let me set the record straight. KIZUNA is a major improvement over Sweet Obsession. Tiana presented better vocals in this song, and the whole arrangement definitely has something going on, unlike Sweet Obsession’s.  The song features a cool beat that leads the song to an aggressive pop atmosphere, where you can also hear a constant piano playing note-by-note, and guitars playing over a beeping synth. Compared to what Tiana has presented with her debut song, this song features a darker background, which I think suited her pretty well. As usual, her voice was great, although, Tiana could use a little tweaking over her voice more. But, from what I have observed after listening to both KIZUNA and Sweet Obsession, I conclude that Tiana’s gotten a lot better. Her voice doesn’t sound so forced anymore, and she sounds more comfortable here.

If I said KIZUNA was a bit dark, wait till you hear Painting. It’s pretty mysterious in a way, but it sounds so good too. All throughout the song, there’s a heavy beat in the background, while a guitar in the background plays. You can also sight some claps in between beats, that rides well with the whole arrangement. When compared to TEMPTATION, the b-side of Sweet Obsession, this song pretty much loses but, I can say that it has it’s very own highlight in it too. The song may bore the listener sometimes but, it’s worth the listen.

Favorite Track:
KIZUNA

shuffle rating!
A

Single Review
Tiana Xiao – Sweet Obsession

Sweet Obsession is Tiana Xiao’s debut single. It was released on January 23, 2008, making it the first single to be released in the desTiny era. Both songs in this single were produced by Jeeves.

tracklist:
1. Sweet Obsession
2. TEMPTATION
3. Sweet Obsession (instrumental)
4. TEMPTATION (instrumental)

After a few listens, I started to like Sweet Obsession more than before. Actually, I used to hate this song. I thought it was a weird way to debut with a song like this but, now, I think it’s good. In fact, I think the chorus is catchy, despite it’s dullness! The instruments used in this song could’ve been better though. I think the instruments used in here were quite good but, not really eye-opening, which was one factor why I said it was dull. I mean, the beats were great, the background singers and tiana’s singing was awesome but, something was just missing. I just hope that the producers decides to remix this song or something ’cause, I believe that If a few improvements and adjustments are done in this song, we would get a kickass track!

The coupling song for this single, TEMPTATION, was better than Sweet Obsession. This song features a very aggressive arrangement featuring heavy beats and aggressive synth. The chorus was very catchy, while the verses was featuring a different Tiana. A Tiana singing in a low note, which makes the verses very cool because of it’s rareness. The adlibbing Tiana does in the last chorus was my favorite part because of the kind-of-distorted vocals Tiana uses in singing. In my opinion, TEMPTATION is one of her best works to date, and is a MUST-listen.

Favorite Track:
TEMPTATION

shuffle rating!
A-