RISING STAR: Singer and songwriter Hoàng Duyên in the music video Khách Không Mời (Uninvited Guest), a track from her newly-released extended play Bình Minh (Dawn). — Photo courtesy of DreamS Entertainment

HCM CITY — Young Vietnamese female singers have launched new music content to inspire and motivate listeners.

Singer and songwriter Hoàng Duyên has released her new extended play (EP) Bình Minh (Dawn), sending messages of youth, love and optimism.

Duyên said that the EP was inspired by her true experiences in life and from several films.

The 25-year-old singer said: “I believe there is always a ray of hope. So, when we carry sorrows, let’s look forward to the sunrise and believe in a new bright day coming.”

The EP consists of three pop ballad songs composed by the singer, including Khách Không Mời (Uninvited Guest), Bình Minh, and Mưa Dầm Thấm Lâu (Love You Day by Day) featuring rapper Lou Hoàng.  

Duyên also released a music video for the song Khách Không Mời directed by Gin Trần, who has produced MVs for pop stars Mỹ Tâm and Sơn Tùng – MTP.

The video was filmed in Taiwan, recreating a sweet love story of a teenage couple.

With a slow and gentle melody, the song expresses mixed feelings of a grown-up woman remembering her first teenage love.

Trần Thanh Nguyên of Thủ Đức City said that the song brought him back to his youth with his beautiful memories of high school. It also showed the maturity of Duyên’s music.

The video has earned nearly 470,000 views since it was released on September 3.

Duyên became famous after she collaborated with composer and music producer Hứa Kim Tuyền on the song Sài Gòn Đau Lòng Quá (Saigon, It Hurts) in 2021.

She was named the ‘Best New Asian Artist Vietnam’ at the Mnet Asian Music Awards (MAMA) 2021.

In 2022, Duyên joined Britain’s Got Talent competitor Calum Scott in his music video Heaven.

The collaboration, organised by Universal Music Vietnam, is a revamped version of Scott’s single Heaven, released in lyric video format on YouTube in April 2022.

Bonus tracks

FOR THE KIDS: Phương Mỹ Chi of HCM City plans to launch a free school tour through Hà Nội, Đà Nẵng and HCM City, beginning on September 21. — Photo courtesy of VMAS

Phương Mỹ Chi of HCM City has completed bonus tracks for her album Vũ Trụ Cò Bay (The Flying Stork Universe), highlighting songs inspired by Vietnamese folk tales and literary works about the country, and women’s fate, family and love.

The bonus tracks include Lượm, Buôn Trăng (Selling Moon), Con cò and Mặt trời (Stork and Sun), and Rock Hạt Gạo (Rock Song about Rice) composed by Chi and DTAP.

DTAP consists of three talented music producers, Nguyễn Trần Hoàng Thịnh, Trần Quốc Khánh and Võ Thanh Tùng, who worked with Chi on the album.

Lượm is inspired by a poem of the same name by revolutionary poet Tố Hữu, which portrays a young messenger named Lượm in the resistance war.

Meanwhile, Buôn Trăng (Selling Moon) is inspired by the poem Đây Thôn Vĩ Dạ (Here Is Vĩ Dạ Hamlet), the masterpiece by the late Hàn Mặc Tử.

All the works are told through folktronica, a genre of music comprising various elements of folk music and electronica.

To promote new songs, the singer will host a series of free music shows at schools across Việt Nam, beginning with a concert at the Hà Nội Trade Foreign University on September 21 and 22.

The shows will continue in Đà Nẵng on October 5 and 6, and in HCM City on October 19 and 20.

Chi, 21, said: “My company and I invested around VNĐ10 billion (US$408,000) for the school tour.”

“At this time, I want to complete my dream of engaging audiences at live shows, not thinking of commercial shows yet,” she said, adding that she spent a lot of time improving her voice and singing skills to offer the best performances to her fans.

Chi joined the music industry in 2013 after being the runner-up in the first season of The Voice Kids of Vietnam, a reality television singing competition for children from six to 14 years old, based on the concept of The Voice Kids of Holland.

Having a sweet and strong voice, Chi quickly became famous among audiences with folk and contemporary folk songs such as Quê Em Mùa Nước Lũ (Flood in My Homeland), which helped her win the Bài Hát Yêu Thích (Favourite Song), a music television show produced by Việt Nam Television (VTV), in 2014.

She is nicknamed “Cô Bé Dân Ca” (Folk Girl) due to her love and passion for folk music and traditional culture.

Vũ Trụ Cò Bay was nominated for the Album of the Year award at the Cống Hiến (Devotion) Awards 2024 launched by Thể Thao & Văn Hoá (Sports and Culture) newspaper of the Vietnam News Agency, while Chi was nominated for Female Singer of the Year.

Chi also hosted a showcase at Marie Curie High School in District 3, attracting over 3,000 fans. — VNS