Trio For Trilingualism wiki

Trio For Trilingualism

Studio album by The Last Aurora

Released January 2010
Recorded October, December 2008
Genre J/Pop, Ballad, Folk, Rock

Trio For Trilingualism is the fourth studio album of Singapore pop trio The Last Aurora, released on January, 2010 in Singapore. It is the first The Last Aurora album with 13 songs, and second in featuring Chinese and Japanese languages. This album is mostly known for its catchy F.I.R.-esque mandopop songs. There are 5 Chinese songs, 5 English songs, and 3 Japanese songs.

Lead songwriter Shen Le has referred to it as the 'greatest fun I had making an album’.[3]

Felicia Lau said that “This album is very interesting. It has many different cultures and languages infused together. I really loved the diversity. This album rocks.”

The album has spawned five singles. “三之梦”，“一场梦”， “世界”，“谈情”, “传奇”.

Title Origin

According to Shen Le, the band's pianist and main composer, the album's title was Trio For Trilingualism, because she decided to write songs in Chinese and Japanese, and also as there are 3 members in the band. The name, though, has nothing to do with the album's tracks.

Recording
The Last Aurora began recording the songs in the winter of 2008, and were finished by spring 2009. As with their previous studio albums, Old Shadows Linger and The Truth Before The Dawn, the band collaborated with BMI freeplaymusic for their music. Notable composers include Scott P Schreer, Tillman Sillescu and Pete Calandra. The album was recorded, mixed and mastered at Shen Le’s house.

The album's production took two months.

Music style

Before the album's release, band leader Shen Le said that the album will have a lot in common with their debut album Dawncast. For example, the band will have more pop songs (such as “一场梦”, “世界”, “Fly To The Sky”), and ballads (“Being Different”, “With You”, “Sleep Song”), and traditional Chinese songs (“三之梦”, “谈情”, “传奇”) and rock song (“Don’t Tell Me”), but that additionally there will be JPop songs (such as “世界大戦”、“死亡”、“これは誰”). Also there will be traditional Chinese instruments, like the ethnic and bamboo flutes, percussion, guitar, and guzheng.

The lyrics will also be more optimistic, with love ballads (“三之梦”, “一场梦”, “With You”, “谈情”, “传奇”) and happy songs (“Being Different”, “世界”, “Fly To The Sky”), with an angry song (“Don’t Tell Me”). However, sad songs are still present (“世界大戦”、“死亡”、“Sleep Song”). The new album includes songs written by Chen Yun and Felicia Lau, with lots of famous writers, including the novelist Jin Yong and the great poet Li Bai, and orchestral parts.

The music will be mainly upbeat pop and slamming guitars, with a few piano pieces. The music is reminiscent of F.I.R.’s experiments.

“ This will be different from The Truth Before The Dawn. It still tells a story, but there is no musings like before. In fact, if you listened to both, you would not be able to tell it is by the same band. However, it's not going to be like Dawncast 2. There is maturity in some of the new songs, there will not be so many vulgarities, and angsty feelings like Dawncast. This is an inspirational album, for you to listen to if you’re happy.
-Shen Le, band leader, keyboardist and main composer[21]
”

This album also include songs sung equally by Felicia Lau, Shen Le and Chen Yun, instead of Shen Le being the lead singer. “The main idea of this album is to let everyone have a chance to sing. The Last Aurora is a band, not Shen Le’s solo act.” Shen Le, who actively avoids the spotlight, gave this input.

The album's average track length (with 13 songs) is minutes, with most of the songs lasting for about three minutes. The tracks are much shorter than The Truth Before The Dawn tracks, but much longer than Dawncast tracks.

Track Meanings

1. 三之梦is inspired by a dream Shen Le had, about her past life in Song Dynasty, China. Chen Yun was Princess Yu Lan, her best friend, Shen Le was Yue Er, a GuZheng player in court. Soong Wei Shun is Hei, Yu Lan’s bodyguard. Nicholas Seah is Bai, a minister in court. Hei and Yu Lan loved each other, but Bai wanted Yu Lan for the throne. Also, Yu Lan is a very beautiful girl, and the only one able to resist Bai’s charms. Yu Lan’s cousin, the king of another kingdom, wants to marry Yu Lan for the throne too. Yu Lan’s aged father, Emperor Xiao Zong, was too weak to prevent the King. However, Yu Lan and Hei decided to elope together. Bai wants to prevent them, and Yue Er blocks Bai, giving Yu Lan and Hei a chance to slip off. Enraged, Bai killed Yue Er. The King chased after Yu Lan and Hei, but fired an arrow at Yu Lan after she rejected the him. Hei threw himself in front of Yu Lan, dying for
her. Bai took advantage of the confusion and spirited Yu Lan away into the forest. They lived in solitude. However, Yu Lan pines for Hei, and refuses to eat or sleep. She died soon after. Bai, sad that there is someone who would rather love an ugly, uneducated man like Hei than a handsome, educated man like him, decided to kill himself too, by hanging. They were buried together.
2. Being Different is about how Shen Le thinks being different from others mean she is special. She does not follow fashion trends, but do whatever she wants.
4. 世界大戦is about World War Two, but not about the Japanese. It is about war on whole, how horrible war is.
6. 死亡is about how Death is forced to take people’s lives everyday, he dislikes the monotonous job, yet he must do his duty.
8. Fly To The Sky is inspired by Hilary Duff’s song Fly. It is about if you work hard, you will surely succeed in whatever you do.
9. 谈情 is about a man mourning for his dead lover. Their love is long, but their lives are not. She is in heaven, but the man’s soul labours to fly with her soul, but the road to heaven is long, and his soul can never breach the mountain barriers to be with her.
11. Don’t Tell Me is inspired by Avril Lavigne’s Take Me Away. It is about Chen Yun changing, and how she feels.
12. 传奇is about a forbidden love between a snake spirit and a human. The man died, and the spirit mourns their love for a thousand years.
13. Sleep Song is inspired by Secret garden’s song Sleep Song. It is a tribute to Chen Yun’s dead brother, who passed away in the womb when Chen Yun was eleven.

Band members
Shen Le - Vocals, Lyrics, Piano
Felicia Lau - Vocals
Sarah Cheung – Vocals

Guests

Lyrics
Jin Yong “三之梦”
Li Bai “谈情”

Music
Scott P Scheer “Being Different”, “一场梦”, “世界”, “谈情”, “これは誰”, “Don’t Tell Me”, “传奇”, “Sleep Song”
Tillman Sillescu “三之梦”, “谈情”
Pete Calandra “Being Different”, “谈情”
Suzanne Ciani “With You”
Patrick Smith “死亡”
Joi Veer “Fly To The Sky”
D Difonzo “一场梦”
Robin L Klein “これは誰”
Larry Buksbaum “Don’t Tell Me”
Eric Roos “传奇”
Ken Wallace “Sleep Song”
David Rolfe, T Loeffler “世界”