CD : Oiy Kraton อ้อย กระท้อน - narm tar mai lai kuen

Oiy has been around for awhile but this album sees her move to RS. The opener ("Rao ruk kun mai dai") sets the stall for the rest of the album really, quality singing with a strength to it coupled to a rock edge that erupts before the song has ended to a big ending. "Yah rong hai" has a restrained and bluesy feel to it turning into some big guitar chords.

"Hua lum phong" raises the tempo a bit and has a more traditional feel to the earlier songs which are more rock than anything. "Narm tar" is back to slow bluesy rock, Oiy's vocals have a slightly silky feel to them that is expertly matched by the backing. It oozes quality this album. Like a lot of singers though her vocal style is much more suited to slower songs, "Lhok nee mee wai yieb" raises the tempo and doesn't quite work as well. Slower songs like "Poo chai pee sua" and those mentioned earlier dominate the album though. On this song Oiy singing has a slightly delicate nature to it which works really well with some traditional instrumentation added to the rock mix. Excellent album.

Rating : 9/10

Favourite songs : Rao ruk kun mai dai, Poo chai pee sua