Di-Dar is the ninth Cantonese studio album by Chinese musician Faye Wong, released on 22 December, 1995, by Cinepoly Records. An eclectic mix of dream pop, psychedelia, and trip hop, the album was a continuation of Wong's experimental efforts, a departure from her previous work under Cantopop and R&B influences. Wong's next record, the dream pop Fuzao (1996), was a culmination of her artistic vision. Di-Dar was Wong's final Cantonese album until Be Perfunctory (2015), a re-release of two extended plays; all of Wong's later albums were recorded in Mandarin with a limited number of Cantonese tracks, primarily alternative versions aimed at the Hong Kong market.
Most of Wong's collaborators on Di-Dar had been involved in her earlier work. Lyricist Lin Xi (Albert Leung) penned nine tracks on the album; songwriter C.Y. Kong, Wong's then-husband Dou Wei, and producer Zhang Yadong made notable contributions. In particular, Wong's work with Lin Xi and Zhang set a precedent for later albums such as Lovers & Strangers (1999).
The album was a commercial success and sold 1.5 millions copies across Asia, with title track "Di-Dar" and "曖昧", both composed by Wong herself, becoming well-known songs. Di-Dar peaked at number one in Hong Kong according to the IFPI and Billboard magazine.
In a retrospective Pitchfork review, Di-Dar is described as "sketch[sic] a deteriorating relationship," with Lin Xi's lyrics "suffusing the album's romanticism with a sense of anxiety and the burning desire to disappear." The album provokes themes of decadence and agitation, with a psychedelic atmosphere presented in uncanny melodies such as that in "迷路."
Deemed one of Wong's most coherent artistic efforts, the dream pop and trip hop elements of Di-Dar would influence her later work such as Fuzao — on which Wong collaborated with her long time influence, the Cocteau Twins — and Fable (2000), the latter of which includes a five-track Buddhist-themed song cycle composed by Wong in the trip hop genre.
Composition Following Random Thoughts and Please Myself (1994), Wong steered away from the mainstream and instead explored contemporary alternative influences. Di-Dar marked Wong's first attempt in the trip hop scene, then popularized by acts such as Björk and Massive Attack. Including "Di-Dar" and the untitled "(無題)", all tracks are named with two Chinese characters or syllables, an aesthetic preference in several of Wong's albums including Sky (1994). Of the ten tracks on Di-Dar, three are covers, notably with "曖昧" being Wong's second cover of Taiwanese songwriter Salsa Chen's compositions.
Critical reception
Di-Dar ranked at number 27 in Ming Pao Weekly'''s list of "40 Classic Cantopop Albums of the Last 40 Years" published in October 2008. Music journalist Fung Lai-Chee described it as "the best psychedelic and best-selling avant-garde work in Cantonese pop, with songs that are self-centred, ignoring market and others' work. Abstruse, obscure and mysterious."
In a 2023 review of four reissued Wong albums (Please Myself to Fuzao) by Pitchfork'', Michael Hong called it Wong's "finest Cantonese album" and "more atmospheric, almost psychedelic" than her previous work.
Track listing
Charts Chart (1996) Peakposition Hong Kong Albums (IFPI) 1
Sales and certifications
Release history RegionRelease dateLabelFormat(s) Hong Kong22 December 1995Cinepoly Records Taiwan1996Linfair RecordsCD China 1996Jindian Audio and VideoJapan25 February 1996PolydorCD 26 September 1997CD (reissue)Hong Kong7 May 2003Cinepoly RecordsDSD9 September 2004SACD26 October 2010Universal Music Hong KongCD (Golden Disc Anniversary Series)12 November 2020CD (24K Gold series)15 December 2021LP (ARS series) Japan27 September 2023Universal Music JapanLP
References
External links