CD : Takkatan Cholada ตั๊กแตน ชลดา - dok neon barn kum

Takkatan's third album and greatly anticipated by myself (and i'm sure many other people too) after her superb second album. Actually it has been a long wait, over a year (which is usual for a young luktung star) so how does this album go? It starts off up-tempo with the title track "Dok neon barn kum" which has a jaunty beat and a good melody. Takkatan nails slow songs better than most but also is pretty good at the fast stuff.



Good though that is, what we really want are superb slow songs full of emotion, heart break and amazing singing. "Yah tho ma kae plob jai" is the first attempt at that. The song also has some interesting things going on in the melody. It maybe just falls short of being a truly great song though. "Mee khon ngao ror yoo ber nee" is a very country song with good instrumentation. "Fan geb" is where things start to get really good though. The best song on the album and my song of the year so far. From the opening chords shivers run down your spine as the melody and tension slowly builds. Takkatan's voice also building to a tremendous chorus.



"Yark fhun dee tee barn rao" has to follow that and of course can't help but being a bit of a let down, its a nice enough song with the feel of the hills behind it (you'll understand when you hear it, hopefully). "Tode tarn kong karn ma sai" is another slow Takkatan song, she has a template for them now : opening slow restrained chords then the crisp vocals cut in building to a chorus.

"Sa-nguan sit chapor khon sode" is for a bit of variety, a faster song with a beat that is up-tempo and lightens the mood. "Lhong aiy duay ter" is back to slow stuff, again with a great country feel. "Kor kae mee ter hai ruk" is an interesting song having a slinky start and into a mid-tempo melody. Finally "Tarng lud kong khon ror" is another slow song, not bad but compared to the others on this album pretty average. The song sounds a bit too much Tai Orratai to be honest, actually that is one criticism with the album. A few times you wonder if its Tai or Takkatan singing. Takkatan doesn't need to copy anyone.

So overall a truly excellent album chock full of great songs. Well balanced and well mixed. So is this better than the latest Tai Orratai album? Yes, but because Tai's latest isn't quite her best. GMM should just be thankful they have 2 female singers producing such high quality goods like this at the moment. Getting back to this album : essential.

Fav songs : Fan geb, Dok neon barn kum, Tode tarn kong karn ma sai

Rating : 9.9/10

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