Dear readers and listeners of Soundville,

set aside your daily worries for a moment, because I have an album for you that, I am certain, you will not find anything quite like ‘Fusion Of Colours’ by Shu Lee. You might be wondering what makes ‘Fusion Of Colours’ so special, so unique. I will be more than glad to tell you, especially since I must admit I have a soft spot for Shu Lee. His music is created entirely on his own, with no outside producers, no engineers, and no studio team. Of course there is nothing wrong with collaborations, quite the opposite. But when a single artist writes the music and lyrics, records, mixes, masters, formats and produces everything by themselves, the result becomes so deeply personal it feels like a mirror of his own soul and life. That is exactly the case with ‘Fusion Of Colours’, which belongs to today’s so called DIY category.

It is a true cultural mosaic: the tracks weave together influences in nine different languages, including English, Serbo-Croatian, Arabic, Hindi, Malay, Dharug, Mandarin Chinese, Tamil, and Spanish, as well as at least nine distinct musical genres. This reflects the multicultural world Shu Lee inhabits. Of particular importance on the record are Dharug, one of the Indigenous languages of Western Sydney where Shu Lee now resides, and Mandarin, which represents the artist’s ethnic roots. And here is something even more striking: Shu Lee has coined an entirely new genre and philosophy around this, ‘MFDM’ (Multifaceted DIY Music). Pretty exciting, isn’t it? It is a difficult task to realize, to create, and to write. And that alone already makes this album an important milestone, both for the music industry and for Shu Lee’s personal journey. That is why I suggest you take out your best headphones right now, get comfortable, and let us simply enjoy together the brightest moments of ‘Fusion Of Colours’.

Undoubtedly, the first track, ‘I Am A Pyx’, is impossible to overlook. After all, this is where the first encounter with the album begins. It perfectly captures that unique, arresting sound of Shu Lee. I love how in ‘I Am A Pyx’ the light indie-rock texture with organ, synth keys, and a Radiohead-like sense of experimentation merges with Shu Lee’s warm, orange-tinged vocals, creating a truly new sonic space that invites exploration. Do not skip ‘Magpie On The Roof’, which opens with a striking groove, energetic keys, and a deep, heavy bassline. For me, it recalls something from the 90s, the kind of music that accompanied growing up, while its grunge-flavored vocals carry an incredible weight of emotion. And this is exactly the uniqueness of Shu Lee: it is difficult to pin the music down to a single genre, because everything feels in perfect harmony. At the same time, many styles that rarely, if ever, blend together, are brought into one. What I especially like about ‘Magpie On The Roof’ is how it carries traces of hip-hop, with a kind of street-born unease and reckless energy, and that gives the track a real edge.

If you are fond of slightly retro pop, with a romantic touch, then ‘Frolicking’ is the track for you. It combines pop percussion, drums, and guitars, yet Shu Lee’s vocal leans toward a smooth RnB-rap delivery, creating a hazy, almost sensual atmosphere, heightened by a sweet, melodic guitar riff. Truly impressive! I like that after the middle of the album, in the track ‘Love Song To Lebanon’, Shu Lee offers a light pause. Gentle indie guitars in familiar rhythms and harmonies bring you back to reality, allowing you to rest a little and enjoy a very beautiful indie rock ballad with sensitive lyrics. Apart from the fact that in ‘Fusion Of Colours’ there are so many languages, rhythms, instruments and genres, it also has mystery, mysticism and a cinematic quality. And this conceptuality takes an interesting turn through the track ‘Mindlessly’. A phone call, a question, noise in response. Flashes of rhythm passing through the phone wires, a distorted voice breaks in and out. All this gives goosebumps and a slight emotional unease, which then opens up into a mix of reggae, RnB, indie and hip hop. You know, if ‘Twin Peaks’ were music, I think it would sound like ‘Mindlessly’.

The album ends with tracks that are important both for Shu Lee and for the sound of the album as a whole. The track ‘Kampung Halaman’, as Shu Lee says, is the only officially recorded song where five languages are merged together: Malay, Tamil, a Mandarin Chinese, English and Spanish, performed by an Australian artist connected with Malaysia. I admit, I do not know Eastern languages, so my perception of ‘Kampung Halaman’ was exclusively emotional. At the very beginning of the track, 10 million goosebumps ran through me, because it sounded too traditional and cinematic, as if I had found myself in a distant village where the traditions and culture of an entire people are gathered and maintained. And this singing conveys a culture that is completely new to me so strongly that it creates incredible interest, and I listened to ‘Kampung Halaman’ several times. You know, the sound here is so cinematic that if I close my eyes, it feels as if I am in tropical places of another culture, and this is simply an incredible experience that everyone should have.

The final track ‘Bada Buru’ became a discovery for me. Its length is 4 minutes 49 seconds, and this track sounds completely new. It is here that a Mandarin Chinese is mixed with Australian Dharug, which reflects Shu Lee’s cultural identity and sense of his own life. And you know, it sounds very personal. Shu Lee reveals his roots, his perception of the world around him in this track, and it really shows. This makes ‘Bada Buru’ unique, because I have never heard anything like it before. Flawless! Wow, that was amazing, really cool, unusual, and captivating. For the duration of listening to this album ‘Fusion Of Colours’, I truly disconnected from reality for a while. I recommend you add your favorite tracks to your playlist so you don’t lose such unique and personal music, and follow Shu Lee because I’m sure even more unique music awaits us ahead. I love it!

Hey, Shu Lee! Thank you for releasing such great and truly unique music. An incredible amount of work went into the recording, creating, realization, and promotion. It sounds amazingly cool, very unusual, and intriguing. When I listened, I was completely under the spell of the music because I couldn’t predict how the sound would shift next. And that’s exactly what makes this album absolutely timeless, bringing it closer to a classic. I will definitely show the album to everyone. Let them listen to this unique and awesome music too. I love it, and I’m your fan!

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With much love,
Soundville