hey everyone!

if you made it to the cd release concert in new york, a heartfelt thanks. it meant a lot to me to have such a full house.

if you didn’t, you can catch a glimpse here:

..

the baruch newspaper also wrote a detailed review of the show. i’ll post it below.

now go and enjoy the gorgeous day!
cynthia.

"BPAC scores a win with Lin"
Frank Marzullo, The Ticker, Baruch College
Issue date: 4/7/08 Section: Arts


Cynthia Lin is one of seven artists on the emerging artist roster this spring at the Baruch Performing Arts Center. But I suspect the audience came away from her concert sensing a singer-songwriter worth keeping on their radar.

Lin got off to an auspicious start with a gorgeous song of regret called "Eclipse," which remains unrecorded. She segued into a playfully ironic song, "Chemicals," in which she vowed to alter her brain chemistry with the right medication so that she could feel bliss again. "Blue and Borderlined," the title track of her 2005 album, is less immediate.

The abstract quotient is high - it wouldn’t exactly go in the crowd-pleaser column. I found it opaque and wanted to crack its code. Your reaction all depends on your desire to "fly away to where the water meets the sky." It had all the makings of artistry with Lin’s soaring and urging voice, but the listener may not climb aboard.

Thankfully, "Skipping in NYC" followed. Lin strummed her way right back into our hearts: "I was skipping down the sidewalk on Sixth Avenue. Everybody looked at me like I was looney tunes." Not even the dirty subway below could take the skip out of the enamored girl’s step once the realization of love kicked in. It’s a warm retro song, suitable for ballroom dancing, should you be so inclined.

She changed the vibe dramatically with "Microscope," a thoroughly modern song about showing one’s real self to their significant other. She offers to be our blanket and shelter in "Home." It’s a moving piece with a generous, vulnerable heart-opening about giving and receiving affection.

"I’m Shy" takes us back to a retro mode. The mellow guitar gives way, hinting at a woman who’s "got a big heart, but nowhere to show it." It’s a very soft sell to an oblivious guy, doggedly determined to make an impression. This and "Skipping" wouldn’t be out of place in an upscale supper club with patrons twice Lin’s age.

Her "End of the Line" is a depressing reminder of our economic malaise. It sounds like a folk version of Billy Joel’s "Allentown," bemoaning a time and place long gone. Here, town relevance is quashed by its inaccessibility by public transportation. It’s a bummer, but she holds a mirror up to life while her gentle voice buffers the bad news.

I was puzzled by Lin’s cover of Cyndi Lauper’s "Time After Time." Fans of the original will be disappointed. Lin and her band don’t reach for heights, they prefer to stay in their comfortable safe zone while issuing a pedestrian cover. Her "Fever" cover was also slightly bland.

"Doppelganger" is the title track of Lin’s latest CD, released in 2007, and the night’s highlight. She’s struggling to balance a split personality: "I told your exes about the web of lies, the other guys, the alibis. All your flimsy alibis." Her repetition of "the real you" is sublime. She could incorporate some movement on stage to spice the drama, but the song is a gem.

Doppelganger is German for "double walker." It doesn’t take a psychology degree to assume that Lin, a Princeton graduate in economics, is listening to her own doppelganger and unleashing the muse within.

I was enraptured by "Perfect," featuring exquisite cello work by Helen Chou. The obsessive quest for perfection consumes us, Lin argues. Olympic athletes should listen to this as they train. A modern dance choreographer should grab it. The song’s tautness expertly yields to a rapid, uncontrolled pleading.

If you see a petite Asian woman skipping down Sixth Avenue anytime soon, stop and say hello. It will be Lin, celebrating love and, perhaps, a record deal.