Tiana Xiao’s debut album released on May 21, 2008.

The album opens with aquarium- a beautiful, laid back song with really nice vocals from Tiana Xiao, as well as excellent use of backing vocals and synth effects. The song has an interesting feeling to it- there is something almost surreal about it created by the blend of the deeper parts of the song contrasting to the higher pitched parts. I love these different layers and dynamics of the song, so that despite the overall simplicity of the song it comes across as quite complex.

Track two is Destiny. Tiana’s vocals either make this cute or childish- I’m not sure (If they were more mature this could be a sexy track but they definitely aren’t). Her vocals aren’t necessarily bad but they aren’t the best. There’s a bit of voice distortion too which works well. The instrumentation is quite nice with simple heavy beat and some synth. There is this thing at the end with the distortion of destiny going up to squeaky pitch which is ridiculous and ruins the track just as you are getting used to it, but what comes after is quite nice. Overall the track drags on a bit and is annoying at times, it’s really not the same level as aquarium.

However there is a better track that follows. I hated KIZUNA at first but grew to love it. I thought it was boring and I don’t think the PV helped either. However, I eventually listened to it the whole way through and I must say I really like it. KIZUNA opens with a heavy repetitive beat and a few other instruments, including equally heavy synth, which combines for a simple but effective melody. It’s dark and bittersweet- almost sexy in a way. Tiana sounds nice here- she suits the song I think and she puts in a lot of emotion. I think the rhythm of the voice part is really interesting too as well as the vocal distortion, good use of vocal effects and backing vocals. It is a repetitive song, but really catchy and Tiana sounds her best. The highlight of the song is the ending, with the repetition of “kizuna” and the electric guitar- giving it even more of gritty edge as well as a slight rock feel. It’s a really good track this which although comes across as simple, has a lot of attitude.

The next track is titled 3・2・1…. This track is reminiscent of KIZUNA before it with the beat, and the heavy, darker sounding vocals from Tiana Xiao. Again there is something almost sexy about it. However it’s not the most interesting of tracks, even if it’s not bad to listen to. The next track Painting is a lot better. It’s a beautiful RnB ballad where Tiana really shows off her vocals a bit more. She puts in a lot of emotion. I also think she sounds a lot better singing low/mid-range, as she does a lot here. It still has that dark and mature feeling that the past few tracks have had and once again the instrumentation is simply a beat with few synth effects combining with the vocal part, and much use of vocal effects and overlapping of different voice parts for something simple and effective.

After painting comes Echo. The song has a heavy and repetitive clapping beat. Throughout the song there is heavy distortion on the vocals that frankly, is annoying as hell. The song continues to annoy me way too much and sounds like it is trying way too hard to be something and failing. This is one of the worse tracks so far.

There is then PARADOX, which has a more poppy feel than anything on the album before. This is an upbeat and happy sounding pop tune. Still has the same simple style as the rest of these tracks- the beat, the effects etc. Tiana puts on quite a cuter sounding voice here, and it works pretty well. It’s quite nice overall- even if nothing more. It borders on being cheesy and annoying, to be honest.

Track 8 is TEMPTATION which is so completely different to Paradox. The song is trying to be sexy, however Tiana’s vocals aren’t yet developed enough to pull of the “sexy” and “mature” that I assume she is trying to. In fact is comes off as a little flat not to mention immature her singing “temptation in your eyes”. I do really love the beat of the song, and the whole arrangement is interesting. Once again, her voice is decent when she sings in this range but it’s not yet sexy, sorry.

I really like track 9- Sweet obsession which is another poppy tune with only a slight RnB feel to it. It’s a lovely bittersweet ballad with beautiful instrumentation (I love the opening instrumentation) and Tiana sounds amazing. She does go up higher in the chorus, but I think she pulls it off here. This song sounds quite desperate, and sad in the chorus- and longing with the long, forlorn notes in the verses. This is a strong track, with great arrangement and a good feel to it. There’s a level of emotion in this one not seen since Painting. The song suits Tiana’s vocals, and I think that’s the key. I love the layering of the vocals parts, and her adlibbing is nice too.

Another strong track follows. happy tears is also a sad ballad, opening with a simple guitar part before introducing the RnB feel expected of Tiana Xiao by now. She sings low and quiet, giving a sad feel to the song (which is so totally contrasting to the title). This is a wonderful ballad, quietly building into a very expressive chorus and building up again at the end. Much like sweet obsession, her voice really suits the song and she puts a lot of emotion into it. It’s very beautiful song. I love how it ends with the vocals and guitar.

The second to last track is Undo Hurt which has an almost reggae rhythm and a little bit of rebellious attitude to it. This is OK. I don’t find anything repulsive about it, but neither does it present anything new or different to the album and it’s not particularly exciting. Lastly there is Mileston ~to believe~- a ballad to end the album off. It’s OK, nice vocals and OK instrumentation. It’s a little boring, but the hopeful feel is always good to end an album with.

Rating: 7/10 (OK, nice to listen to. Weaker tracks let the album down)
Favourite Track: aquarium, KIZUNA, Sweet Obsession

Overall I would say this is a pretty good album and Tiana Xiao shows she has potential. It’ obvious that Tiana has a lot of talent, but at the same time I think she also has a lot of room to grow, mature and develop her style further. There were some good tracks on the album (aquarium, KIZUNA, painting, sweet obsession, happy tears), but there were also some bad ones (Echo, Temptation) which let the album down quite a lot. I do look forward to whatever she does next, as she has the talent (Her voice is beautiful and has a nice range) and I like the style of her music too. I like the simple arrangement- just a beat and some effects and then layering of different parts- and how it comes across as quite interesting and complex when done well. I suggest you try the album; there could be one or two songs that appeal.