Against the Light
Studio album by
Stefanie Sun
Released22 March 2007 (2007-03-22)
GenreMandopop
Length43:28
LanguageChinese
LabelCapitol
Producer
Stefanie Sun chronology
My Story, Your Song
(2006)		 Against the Light
(2007)		 It's Time
(2011)

Against the Light (Chinese: 逆光) is the ninth studio album by Singaporean singer Stefanie Sun (simplified Chinese: 孙燕姿; traditional Chinese: 孫燕姿), released on 22 March 2007 by Capitol Music Taiwan, which was under EMI at the time.[1] It is her first and last record to be released under that label. Produced by Paul Lee, Peter Lee, and Sun herself, its musical style is mainly based on Mandopop music with some influences of rock and Britpop music.

A commercial success, the album sold over 1.5 million units throughout Asia. In Taiwan it sold more than 130,000 units,[2] becoming the year's second highest-selling album by a female artist and the year's third highest-selling album overall in the country. The album earned five nominations at the 19th Golden Melody Awards, with the nominations being for Best Song, Best Mandarin album, Best Lyricist, Best Arrangement and Sun herself was nominated for Best Mandarin female singer. After the release of this album, Sun would go on an extended hiatus and wouldn't release another musical project until four years later with It's Time.[3]

Background and development

On October 7, 2005, Sun released her eighth studio album, A Perfect Day. Though this album did not reach the heights of her previous albums, it had still found commercial success by selling over 1 million copies in Asia.[4] In Taiwan, it sold more than 100,000 copies, becoming the 10th best-selling album of the year. On September 26, 2006, she released her second compilation album My Story, Your Song, which was her final work to be released under Warner Records.[5] There was one new track on the greatest hits album called "Rainy Day (雨天)", which became a popular single that was placed at number 37 on the 2006 Hit FM Top 100 Singles of the Year chart.[6] In August 2006, it was announced that Sun joined Capitol Music Taiwan, which was under the umbrella of EMI at the time.[7]

Writing and recording

"Against the Light" is a power ballad that is solely accompanied by a piano in the beginning, but halfway through the song its production soars and becomes a lot more anthemic, thus giving the audience a feeling of seeing hope. "What I Miss" and "Whirlpool" are empathetic ballads. In a story-like structure, they contain ordinary but gripping emotions and are highly resonant songs. The lyrics in "Whirlpool" goes deep into the emotions, while going deep into the powerlessness and profound helplessness of the protagonist in the lyrics. "What I Miss" was crafted by veteran Chinese musicians Daryl Yao and Peter Lee, and lyrically talks about yearning for an estranged lover. Two years later, the song was covered by popular Taiwanese singer Jam Hsiao on his tribute album Love Moments in 2009.

"Sleepwalking" is a medium tempo song with a childlike aura and a special classical atmosphere. The song starts with a majestic melody, followed by a sonata-style melody. "Muttering" and "Pattern of Love" are upbeat songs with pop rock influences. "Floating" is an atmospheric symphonic rock song that sounds very similar to the music of Evanescence; the beginning part musically is solely the sound of a piano, attracting the listener's attention with clean vocals, while guitar, drums and bass are added in the second part. "Needing You" is a quiet love song with a simple melody. "Tranquility" is a calm and quiet unplugged love song which is simple but thought-provoking. "About" has a cool Britpop atmosphere, with the lyrics revolving around SUn's own inner world and is an outlook on life.

Title and artwork

After joining EMI that year, the meaning of the album title expressed Sun's attitude at the time; "Say goodbye to the past and continue to move forward against the light in the next stage."[8] On the album cover, which was taken in Egypt, she is wearing a white top and sports a breezy bob cut while overlooking a pyramid in the background.

Release and promotion

On March 1, 2007, Sun announced that the album would be released on March 22, 2007.[9] On the same day EMI announced that the album was available for pre-order today.[10] The pre-orders in Taiwan exceeded 60,000. Only 10 days after its release the sales in Taiwan officially exceeded the 100,000 mark, while the mainland sales exceeded 500,000 in just one week after its premiere.[11]

Overall the album has sold over 1.5 million copies in Asia, while it had sold more than 130,000 copies in Taiwan, becoming the third highest-selling album in the country that year.[12] The album earned an IFPI Hong Kong Top Sales Music Award for Top 10 Best Selling Mandarin Albums of the Year in 2007.[13] On April 21, 2007, she held a celebratory concert at Tamsui Fisherman's Wharf to an audience of nearly 20,000 spectators to commemorate the excellent sales of Against The Light. A large number of fireworks were also displayed at the concert, with about 800,000 fireworks burning in just 10 seconds.[14]

Singles and music videos

Giza pyramid complex, one of the filming locations for the "Against The Light" music video

On February 22, 2007, Sun went to Cairo, Egypt to shoot the music video for the single "Against The Light", which was directed by prolific music video director Shockley Huang. The video opens with a shot of an airplane flying in the clouds. There are then shots of different areas in the city Cairo. Sun gingerly holds a picture of the pyramids in her hand then dashes out of her hotel room. In the next scene, Sun runs wildly in the scorching hot desert near the world famous Giza pyramid complex while wearing a breezy vest and short skirt. Scenes of Sun and her beau in Taipei are interspersed throughout the video. The video ends with a shot of Sun raising her hand up in the sky against the light of the shining sun.

On February 26, it was reported that Sun and her crew were threatened by local gangsters while filming the "Against The Light" music video. When interviewed, EMI / Capital Records general manager Sam Chen only said that Sun was very frightened and told the local station The Singapore Embassy offered them help and rushed the crew in a safe place.[15] On February 27, Sam Chen held a press conference and claimed that he had been intimidated with pistols and extorted by local gangsters in Egypt, forced to swipe his credit card, and had a financial dispute with a local tour guide.[16][17] However, due to the repeated statements of the record company, the disappearance of the director, Sun's failure to return to Taiwan, and the staff's avoidance of talks, Chen began to be questioned about "frying news",[18][19] and the Egyptian incident became a mystery. In an interview on March 10, Sun said that the report was indeed exaggerated, but the staff and the locals did not reach a consensus on some things.[20] On March 26, Khalid, the head of the Empire of the Sun Travel Agency, who hosted Sun and her party to Egypt, explained the whole incident on the Internet.[21] The local tour guide also said in a telephone interview the next day that there had never been any incidents of intimidation with guns, pointing out that someone had lied for publicity.[22] Sam Chen said that there was a gap between the two sides and that they needed to investigate again.[23] After Sam Chen left EMI in 2008, an insider revealed that the Egypt incident was indeed a publicity stunt all along planned by Sam Chen himself.[24] It was only two years later that Sun mentioned the incident for the first time in an interview, and euphemistically stated that she no longer agreed with the current record sales practices.[25][26]

The music video for "What I Miss" was directed by Xu Yunxuan and tells the love story of a couple. In the video's story, the heroine (played by Sun) and the hero (played by Ting Wei Lu) go from being acquaintances then develop into a couple until they finally breakup. At the end of the video the heroine grips the photograph the two had taken together and looks out silently with a grin. To celebrate the sales of Against The Light reaching one million across Asia, the record company released the music video for "Muttering", which was directed by Lai Weikang and featured the Taiwanese boy band Lollipop F.[27] The music video for "Sleepwalking" is directed by Yu Shao-Hsiang who also directed the music video for "Needing You". The music video for "Floating" was directed by Xu Yunxuan and also stars Ting Wei Lu as the male lead. The music video for "About" was directed by Lai Weikang.

Not all of the full-length songs in Against The Light had music videos; the tracks "Tranquility", "Patter Of Love" and "Swirl" used edited concert footage instead.

The tracks, "What I Miss", "Against The Light", and "Muttering", are listed at number 9, number 32, and number 70 respectively on the 2007 Hit FM Top 100 Singles of the Year chart.[28][29]

Track listing

No.TitleLyricsMusicArrangementLength
1."In the Beginning" Stefanie SunStefanie Sun0:59
2."逆光" (Against The Light)Liao YingruPaul LeeMartin Tang4:54
3."夢游" (Sleep-Walking)Matthew YenGu HaoHuang Mingyuan3:08
4."咕嘰咕嘰" (Muttering)Isaac ChenPeter LeeMartin Tang4:32
5."我懷念的" (What I Miss)Daryl YaoPeter LeeMartin Tang4:49
6."安寧" (Tranquility)Lin ZhuyuLin ZhuyuAdam Lee3:18
7."飄著" (Floating)Chen ZhenchuanPaul LeeKenn C.4:09
8."愛情的花樣" (Pattern Of Love)Liao YingruPeter LeeKenn C.3:43
9."漩渦" (Swirl)XiaohanPeter LeeMartin Tang4:51
10."需要你" (Needing You)Jiahui Wu, Shuo HsiaoJiahui WuTerence Teo4:08
11."關於" (About)Guan QiyuanEric NgEric Ng3:57
12."Afterward" Stefanie SunStefanie Sun0:56
Total length:43:28

Sales

Region CertificationCertified units/sales
China — 500,000[30]

References

  1. ↑ "孙燕姿《逆光》亚洲发行 4月3日搜狐歌会首唱" (in Chinese). 2007-03-21. Retrieved 2024-01-06.
  2. ↑ "有人称孙燕姿是冷门歌手 肖战为自己偶像反黑：离谱". www.163.com (in Chinese). 2021-04-28. Retrieved 2023-09-16.
  3. ↑ "孙燕姿华丽回归获佳绩 随心而唱自我解放(图)". ent.sina.com.cn (in Chinese). 2011-03-16. Retrieved 2023-09-16.
  4. ↑ "台灣專輯銷量盤點之2005，王力宏蔡依林第二第三，周杰倫四連冠!" (in Chinese). Retrieved 2023-09-14.
  5. ↑ Your Song 2006 新歌+精選 (in Malay), 2007-05-15, retrieved 2023-09-29
  6. ↑ "Hitoradio‧Hit Fm --華人音樂入口指標". www.hitoradio.com. Retrieved 2023-09-29.
  7. ↑ "孙燕姿确定跳槽EMI 与蔡依林成同门姐妹(附图)" (in Chinese). Retrieved 2024-01-06.
  8. ↑ "这张神专15年后再听依然动人！". k.sina.cn (in Chinese). 2022-03-23. Retrieved 2023-09-14.
  9. ↑ "加盟新东家首张专辑 孙燕姿"逆光"起飞(图)". music.yule.sohu.com (in Chinese). 2007-03-01. Retrieved 2023-09-14.
  10. ↑ "视频：孙燕姿新碟《逆光》台湾地区预购短片". music.yule.sohu.com (in Chinese). 2007-03-07. Retrieved 2023-09-14.
  11. ↑ "孙燕姿《逆光》销量猛增 发片一周狂卖50万(图)". ent.sina.cn (in Chinese). 2007-04-02. Retrieved 2023-09-14.
  12. ↑ "有人称孙燕姿是冷门歌手 肖战为自己偶像反黑：离谱". www.163.com (in Chinese). 2021-04-28. Retrieved 2023-09-16.
  13. ↑ IFPI Hong Kong 2007 IFPI Hong Kong Album Sales Awards winners list Archived 2011-04-17 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 2011-04-19
  14. ↑ "孙燕姿《逆光》庆功演唱会 10秒钟烧掉80万(图)". music.yule.sohu.com (in Chinese). 2007-04-21. Retrieved 2023-09-14.
  15. ↑ "埃及拍MV驚魂　孫燕姿遭黑道恐嚇". news.tvbs.com.tw (in Chinese). 2007-02-26. Retrieved 2023-09-14.
  16. ↑ "埃及千萬拍MV　 孫燕姿遭地陪勒索". news.tvbs.com.tw (in Chinese). 2007-02-27. Retrieved 2023-09-14.
  17. ↑ "孙燕姿埃及遭"地陪"敲诈 MV无法拍摄匆忙返回". enjoy.eastday.com (in Chinese (Taiwan)). 2007-02-28. Retrieved 2023-09-14.
  18. ↑ "燕姿封口返星 埃及事件成謎". ent.ltn.com.tw (in Chinese (Taiwan)). 2007-03-01. Retrieved 2023-09-14.
  19. ↑ "燕姿快閃、導演失蹤　恐嚇事件成謎". news.tvbs.com.tw (in Chinese (Taiwan)). 2007-03-01. Retrieved 2023-09-14.
  20. ↑ "出埃及記報導誇大 孫燕姿自責". ent.ltn.com.tw (in Chinese (Taiwan)). 2007-03-10. Retrieved 2023-09-14.
  21. ↑ "孙燕姿埃及遇劫是"骗局"当地旅行社反击(图)". ent.sina.com.cn (in Chinese). 2007-03-28. Retrieved 2023-09-14.
  22. ↑ "〈獨家〉導遊哈立德　指控孫燕姿公司說謊". news.tvbs.com.tw (in Chinese (Taiwan)). 2007-03-27. Retrieved 2023-09-14.
  23. ↑ "陳澤杉震驚 交由律師處理". ent.ltn.com.tw (in Chinese (Taiwan)). 2007-03-27. Retrieved 2023-09-14.
  24. ↑ "孫燕姿埃及遭劫他策畫？陳澤杉從「造神高手」變「炒作高手」". chinatimes.com (in Chinese (Taiwan)). 2016-07-30. Retrieved 2023-09-14.
  25. ↑ "业界宣传手法难认同 孙燕姿默认不再合作陈泽杉". music.yule.sohu.com (in Chinese). 2009-02-26. Retrieved 2023-09-14.
  26. ↑ "孙燕姿不满埃及事件炒过头 与陈泽杉缘尽(图)". ent.sina.com.cn (in Chinese). 2009-02-27. Retrieved 2023-09-16.
  27. ↑ "棒棒堂男孩好大胆 拍MV把师姐孙燕姿摔落地(图)". music.yule.sohu.com (in Chinese). 2007-03-31. Retrieved 2023-09-29.
  28. ↑ "Hitoradio‧Hit Fm --華人音樂入口指標". www.hitoradio.com. Retrieved 2023-09-17.
  29. ↑ "Hitoradio‧Hit Fm --華人音樂入口指標". www.hitoradio.com. Retrieved 2023-09-17.
  30. ↑ Tan, Kevin (2012). Suryadinata, Leo (ed.). Southeast Asian Personalities of Chinese Descent: A Biographical Dictionary, Volume I & II. Institute of Southeast Asian Studies. p. 1020. ISBN 9789814345217. Retrieved March 19, 2017. over 500,000 copies in China in the first week
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