Siri Lee's Hokkien release named Golden Melody album of the year

Taipei, June 28 (CNA) Singer-songwriter Siri Lee (李竺芯) bagged the coveted album of the year award with her Hokkien album "Sui" (水), a feat not seen since 1999.

"The concept of this album is a physical, psychological and spiritual adventure of women's self-exploration," Lee said.

However, she said, the album is dedicated to everyone, not just women and that it aims to encourage people to break free from society or self-imposed stereotypes.

Its title means "beautiful" or "nicely done" in Hokkien and features several plays on words by Lee, who delivered Hokkien lyrics that are homophonous with, for example, French and Italian phrases.

The album also showcases her versatility as a singer in a range of music styles, including Japanese enka and French chanson.

The last Hokkien album to win the award was "Lonely Tree, Lonely Bird" (樹枝孤鳥) by rocker Wu Chun-lin (吳俊霖), better known as "Wubai," and his band China Blue, in 1999.

"Sui" also won best Taiwanese album, with Lee named best female Taiwanese singer.

Meanwhile, "AAA," a collaborative album between Taiwanese indie band Sunset Rollercoaster (落日飛車) and South Korean band Hyukoh, also notched three awards: best vocal album recording, best album design, and best music video for the song "Antenna."

Hong Kong-American singer Khalil Fong (方大同) was posthumously awarded the jury prize for his 2024 album, The Dreamer (夢想家). The award was accepted on his behalf by his friend and mixing engineer Eric Lau.

Dubbed his "sick album," The Dreamer was largely recorded by Fong at home while he was in poor health, capturing his reflections on life.

"This was both a challenge and a way for me to escape the vapidity I was in," Fong wrote in a social media post about the album's creation. "I jotted down notes, ideas, song structures, and lyrics -- and whenever I felt well enough, I'd turn them into complete songs."

Meanwhile, singer-songwriter Waa Wei won the best female Mandarin singer award, while Lu Shih-hsuan (呂士軒), also known by his stage name Trout Fresh, bagged best male Mandarin singer and best Mandarin album with his 2024 album "Good Sound with Attitudes" (好聲豪氣).

The best new artist award went to rapper "someshiit" (山姆), real name Hsueh Jung-hsuan (薛融暄), who secured the honor with his album "A Fool" (愚公).

"I've always felt that those who needed music the most were the ones who had nothing. I had nothing, so I turned to music. Thank you for discovering me while I was in that state," Hsueh said after accepting the award.

Meanwhile, the evergreen vocal duo Power Station (動力火車) clinched their second GMA after being named the best vocal group award with their 2024 release "Always With You (Deluxe Edition)" (「結伴」豪華版). The pair last won a GMA in 2005.

Now in its 36th year, the Golden Melody Awards remain the most prestigious music honors in the Mandarin-speaking world. In 2014, Billboard dubbed them the "Grammys of the Mandarin pop world."