31 December 2002
Singapore songbird Stefanie Sun made a splash in the regional pop scene in 2000 and this year.She paved the way for other homegrown acts like singing pastor Ho Yeow Sun and construction dude-turned-crooner A-do to make good.
Their continued success means that recording companies are jumping on the bandwagon, grooming a whole barrage of new voices. One fresh face, Lu Rui En, has already come out with a debut album Rui ∑n vol. 01 Album which is doing well.
After J-pop and K-pop, could S-pop be the next big thing on the airwaves?
Source: The Straits Times
Categorised in Rui ∑n vol. 01, The Straits Times.
20 December 2002
VOL. 01 ALBUM
Lu Rui En
(Alfa Music)
*** 1/2
AS A music reviewer, nothing warms me more than releases by homegrown artistes which make me hit the repeat button.
This week, I experienced it twice with two rather different debut albums.
Less captivating, but more commercially-minded and street savvy, is Lu Rui En’s R&B-infused Vol. 01 Album.
Arguably Singapore’s answer to Elva Hsiao and Landy Wen Lan, the pixie-looking NTU Business undergraduate who first did some part-time modelling and later acted for Channel 8, resembles a younger version of MediaWorks artiste Irin Gan.
Unlike Chua, Lu’s vocals are more rough-cut, and are suited for the hefty contributions from R&B heavyweights such as Jay Chou, his collaborator Vincent Fang, and Michael Lynn Hammar.
That Lu has a style all her own is more than audible on tracks such as the Misia-sounding Dislike and the mid-tempo ballad Tired.
What sucks is when she attempts to mimic Chou and Landy Wen Lan’s mumbly singing on White Feathers, and comes off as a badly-cloned copy.
Source: The Straits Times
Categorised in Rui ∑n vol. 01, The Straits Times.
06 September 2002
WHO WILL BE THE NEXT BIG THING?
LU RUI EN, 21
Last spotted playing Chen Hanwei’s go-getting girlfriend on Channel 8 drama serial, No Problem, this NTU business undergraduate also sang its end-title track and the theme song to another Channel 8 serial, Beautiful Connections. After she clears her examinations next month, she will go to Taiwan to record her debut solo album.
Source: The Straits Times
Categorised in No Problem 考试家æ—, The Straits Times.
19 July 2002
MORNING EXPRESS 6
Various Artistes
(Hype Records/MediaCorp Studios)
*** 1/2
Also on the Express are Michelle Saram, with three tracks from her Fantasy serial, and new face Lu Rui En. Channel U defector Jeanette Aw also does a passable turn with Was It Wrong?
Source: The Straits Times
Categorised in Morning Express 6, The Straits Times.
