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| Monday, September 14, 2009
Music > The Last Morning by Dawn Fung Writer : Aaron LeeMy hand formed a musical instrument My fingers tuned a psaltery (from Psalm 151, attributed to King David) Listening to Dawn Fung's debut album "The Last Morning" calls for not a review but a meditation. This CD showcases ten songs written by Dawn on her guitarlele. She has performed her works many times in recent years, and while this album was recorded in the studio, it retains the personable quality of a 'live' performance. It brings together the rich threads of her poetry-writing and musicianship, weaving them into a stirring and fulfilling tapestry in the best folk tradition. At the same time, each of Dawn's collaborators (Ian Wong, Ng Jie Jie, Chen Jer Ming and Jeffery Foo) are quality musicians in their own right. In this album they display an empathetic connection to Dawn's imagination. Altogether it makes for a remarkable listening experience - one characterised by a mystical, essential, and completing Presence. The opening song "Isaiah" features Dawn's lilting solo voice and guitarlele telling a young boy's story. Here is the sweeping melody of the chorus: Winter, winter on the ground The lame will run around the town The blind, the blind will see the sun The poor, the rich will feast as one This hymnic vision is continued by the next song "Before the Throne", a prayer of expectation in which the 'other-world' is evoked by the gorgeous accompaniment of pipes and bodhran. "Beth" has a strong narrative of longing and hope about a soldier's wife. The tender notes and lyrics of "Family Song" open your eyes to the brokenness of this present world. The strong melody of "Doorkeeper" alternating between voice and violin, works its way deep into the spirit. It is understandable why the song has become a favourite of almost everybody who has ever heard Dawn perform. "Beneath the Augured Sun" is playful and profound at the same time - what you would imagine an strange child saying to you in a woodland encounter. Inspired by the book of Ecclesiastes, "Harvest" is spare in tune but gorgeous and eloquent in expression. "The Strangers" is a song that is unlike the others in the album. Perhaps its changed disposition is a kind of prophecy, rendered truthfully and movingly. The layered and evocative "Bridegroom" is best described as a poem that asks difficult questions about modern life. The title track "The Last Morning" is saved for the last. It is a tender love ballad sung on the day the world ends. Yet this tune fades away, suggesting that the silence that comes after is only an interlude. What can I say? Listening to these heart-songs brings joy and pain at the same time. Spiritual yet earth-bound, be prepared to have these songs change you, and go with you. The beauty of folk tunes is that they sound 'undiscovered', in the sense that they seem familiar as soon as they are found. In "The Last Morning" Dawn Fung sings of themes far away but not long ago. With a wink and a smile she says earnestly, this world has no king but God alone. The ancient songs are distant but they tell us that He is already here.
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