Tuấn Hưng – Đam Mê (Remixes)

Even Tuấn Hưng recognizes the challenge of staying awake listening to his regular albums; therefore; he makes a remix to help you out. The intro, which gives you a glimpse of what his old shits used to sound like, captures how one would listen to his music: skip a song after 10 seconds.

The album kicks off with “Độc Thoại” written by Nguyễn Hồng Thuận. Unlike the slow, sleepy version, the remix begins with the money line: “Vì anh ngu si, lòng đã không suy nghĩ.” For Non-Vietnamese readers, allow me to translate: “Because I was a stupid motherfucker; therefore, I didn’t think.” Even with an uptempo beat, you can’t hide the problematic lyricism. It’s the first sign of self-destruction; therefore, I can’t let my boys listen to this track even though they love the dance rhythm. When a relationship doesn’t work out, especially teenage crushes, you don’t blame yourself. Nobody gives a fuck about your sorry ass. You learn from your mistakes and hopefully you’ll do better in the next relationship until you meet the one that can live with all of your flaws. Nobody’s perfect.

Even though the purpose of Remixes is to make you dance, the songs are depressingly sad. From “Anh Nhớ Em” (Anh Tú) to “Hối Hận Trong Anh” (Anh Tú) to “Đêm Định Mệnh” (Trương Lê Sơn) to “Dĩ Vãng Cuộc Tình” (Duy Mạnh), the album sounds like a therapeutic soundtrack for lovesick. As if your ass has just been dumped; therefore, you hit the club to shake it off.

“Cầu Vồng Khuyết” closes out the record and I am not ashamed to admit that the theme-park beat grooves me, and Minh Khang’s lyrics never seem to cease to amuse me. In just four lines, you could feel his pain as he reflects on his past: “I used to love a beautiful girl. She was like a flower and an angel. Now I am sitting here quietly witnessing her leaving me.” Then comes the top-dollar chorus: “Đã khuya rồi vẫn ngồi đếm sao.” So why is he counting stars in the middle of the night? He obviously can’t sleep because he misses her. She’s probably fucking another guy right now as he’s sitting here alone contemplating in the past. He’s re-imagining the old good time they had together and jerking off. He still can’t fall asleep; therefore, the only thing left to do is counting stars.

All kidding aside, I still got mad love for Tuấn Hưng’s rough, raspy voice. Let’s hope that he’ll step out of his comfort zone one day.