Starshine

Taiwan sadly remains an afterthought in the world music community so having another A Moving Sound album arrive in 2022, their third in three years, is welcome news. The instrumental line-up of zhong ruan (Chinese lute), satar (bowed lute found in the Xinjiang region) and erhu (two-stringed fiddle found in China and Taiwan) with acoustic guitar and percussion balance perfectly with vocalist Mia Hsieh, but as with their previous albums this is not an album of traditional music, but rather a contemporary group absorbing folk/local sounds and playing in an almost global setting.

As can be heard on the stunning track ‘Dynasty’, which starts out sounding very ‘Chinese’ but quickly heads into what sounds like the wild steppes of Central Asia or even slightly Balkan; it's a fantastic performance. Songs like ‘Toh De Gong’ and ‘Jump’ may reflect local folk traditions a bit more overtly, but then there is ‘Appearance’, which could easily be on a contemporary improvisational jazz album from New York. Groups such as A Moving Sound have to walk a very fine line to not sound too contrived or overly ‘multicultural,’ but they have mastered this on their third album as it never sounds forced. Really hope to see them perform live overseas soon.