Ho Le Thu – De Ta Say

We owe the asshole who jilted Ho Le Thu for this one. Because of him, her fourth solo release, De Ta Say, is a heartbreaking pleasure. She finally pours her heart out on the tracks and drowns her sorrow in the lyrics.

Right off the title opener, written and arranged by Huynh Nhat Tan, she is ready to get the drama off her silicon chest. Belting out about getting wasted to forget all the bitterness, she gets us intoxicated with her soulful delivery and smoky voice. She continues to soar like a songbird with a broken wing on Truong Le Son’s “Huyet Le” and Le Quoc Dung’s “Em Phai Noi Loi Chia Tay.” Although these two sugary pop hits sound banal, Ho Le Thu could apply them into her condition and phrase each word as if she has lived it.

Unfortunately she can’t do the same with her own translated lyrics. What make “Em Van Tin (Still Believe)” the worst track on the album is the use of Vinish. Somehow this mixture doesn’t sound right at all: “Chon doi em nguyen yeu mai mot nguoi / trong tim chi minh anh thoi / I do I know / You are still in my heart / I believe tinh em van do du cach xa…”

Then again Ho Le Thu’s broken heart lasts as long as the length of this album, which is less than an hour. De Ta Say starts out with a painful track, but ends with a joyful “Mambo Yeu Thuong” so she can just shake off the grief and move on. I am sure she won’t have a hard time finding her next man. Who wouldn’t want a chick with an Asian face, Angelina Jolie’s lips and Pamala Anderson’s cans? All she need now is a Beyoncé’s ass to go with the rest.