Ánh Minh – Sunrise

Ánh Minh is one fine-ass shorty. Whenever she appears in front of a camera, it’s a visual treat. After she has joined Thúy Nga and the Paris By Night crew, her performances are much more sexier. Something about a chick in skimpy clothes swinging on a rope is so damn seductive.

Sunrise is her first solo release for Thúy Nga and it is sadly a huge disappointment. The title track kicks off the album with bland club beat, banal lyrics and robotic vocals (courtesy of Auto-tune). The next two tracks keep the groove up and her voice is lost behind the dance productions. The forth track slows things down a bit with a syrupy ballad that sounds pretty much like any other kiddy pop. Once you catch your breath, the next track picks up pace again with a dance duet featuring one of the most dullest male vocalists in the Vietnamese pop scene. Lyrically, the catchiest phrase on the track is, “ey ey,” the two wordless syllables that has nothing to do with the meaning of the song.

In all fairness, Ánh Minh is not in the camp of Như Loan (all visual no vocals). She has a decent voice and she could pull it off with the right tune, which something she did often when she was still with Asia. Her rock-up rendition of “Tình Yêu Tuyệt Vời” is quite splendid and her biker-chick image is pretty darn sexy. The differences between the two productions are clear. Asia is where she can push her vocal and Thúy Nga is where she can push her visual. Asia may be the right home for her after all.