A long winter, an isolated Greek island, a stone house, a lonely old man … this is where the story for the song Constant Abstract Arrivals and Constant Concrete Departures began.
During the singer-songwriter Lucy Cheung's many travels, she encountered a Dutch man who chose a life of seclusion. Initially intending to start a new life in Greece with his beloved, he started to build this cozy little nest, but by the time the construction finished, the woman was gone.
Singing in Cantonese, Cheung relates to her own life experiences and expresses her empathy in this song.
The song serves as the title track of Cheung's second album A Maudlin Geometry, released by Modernsky Entertainment, a Beijing-based record company.
Born in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, in 1979, having lived in Beijing for 10 years, currently based in London and frequently traveling to other parts of the world, Cheung writes songs in multiple languages-Cantonese, English and Mandarin.
While rooted in folk, her music is influenced by the various styles she was exposed to while growing up.
"I have been very significantly influenced by classical music. I remember when I was little, everyday, my father would play classical music cassettes or turn on the radio," Cheung says.
Another major influence comes from the world of jazz.
"I started to listen to a lot of jazz music when I was in high school, influenced by a radio program in Guangdong. Everyone in China knows about the heavy assignments you get given by school right before you enter university, but I found this radio station. It was my oasis, my darling, my little place of escape."
For this new album, Cheung participated in the arrangement of each song. She also recorded all of the classical guitar accompaniment and some of the electric guitar tracks.
