JJ Lin releases first English album

Singapore — Singaporean Mandopop singer JJ Lin is successful in the Chinese-speaking world with his music and now he is moving on to the English market next.

On April 23 the 40-year-old released his first English album Like You Do. Consisting of eight English-language tracks which are mostly uptempo, the album also has a slower track called Steady My Love and the penultimate track, Bedroom. Bedroom is a searing ballad where Lin collaborated with one of UK’s hottest pop sensations, 2002 hitmaker Anne-Marie for a duet, according to The Star.

“Every song is a reflection of the darker version of myself. And I’ve found a sense of healing, by reaching in and realising that true strength is found in embracing every version of the self,” he wrote about the album on Instagram.

While this is Lin’s first English album, the singer has released a number of English tracks over the years, scattered across his 14-album career including Until The Day, Stay With You (duet with Stefanie Sun) and I Am Alive (duet with Jason Mraz).

Born on March 27 1981, Wayne Lim Junjie, better known by his stage name JJ Lin is a Singaporean singer, songwriter, record producer, and actor. Lin launched his musical career by releasing his debut album, Music Voyager (2003). Lin has received three Golden Melody Awards, including one Best New Artist and two Best Mandarin Male Singer.

JJ Lin was born to an ethnic Kim-mûi Hokkien family (Minnan ethnicity) in Singapore and studied at Jing Shan Primary School, Anglo-Chinese School (Independent) and Saint Andrew’s Junior College before completing his National Service. Lin’s family consists of his brother, father and mother who have a background in Chinese Classical Music, hence influencing the artist’s music. Furthermore, his brother was a major influence in his career choice.

In addition to Mandarin, Lin also sings in English, Hokkien (his native dialect) and Cantonese using romanized pronunciation system, and has released his songs in Cantonese. In Taiwan, he was awarded the Best New Artist award at the Golden Melody Awards./TISG