Wong Kar-wai’s feverish and charming 1994 romantic drama Chungking Express features the director’s greatest needle drop: The vibrant guitar riff of the Cranberries’ “Dreams” leads into a Cantonese cover by singer and actor Faye Wong that spills open over a montage of her character, a snack-bar worker who daydreams of escape, replacing every memento of a love interest’s ex with tokens of herself. The line between Wong, the performer, and Faye, the character, is already shaky—both possess a boyish, offbeat cool—but the former’s cover version mirrors the latter’s intention to assume another’s place. The guitars burn a bit brighter and the drums fold a little flatter, and though Wong adjusts to a convincing echo of Dolores O’Riordan’s warble and yodel, her voice sounds a touch more refined—her delivery similar, yet never quite identical.
Wong, who would later become heralded as the “queen of Cantopop” and also establish a noteworthy Mandarin discography, frequently reimagined other artists’ work in the early period of her career. After she signed to Cinepoly in 1989, the label held her to the standards of Hong Kong’s Cantopop; her early albums sandwiched uninspired renditions of Japanese and American hits between treacly adult-contemporary ballads. Adapting foreign hits in Cantonese had become a reliable method of generating mainstream success in Hong Kong, yet hints of a more innovative approach were audible in covers like Wong’s take on “Dreams.” Wong’s final four albums for Cinepoly, newly reissued on vinyl, showcase the maturation of her voice as well as her deepening desire for artistic freedom as she embraced idiosyncratic sounds and themes of escapism; they trace her evolution from competent copyist to singular talent.
In an interview, Wong pointed to the malleable nature of the voice as an instrument, and hers constantly morphed alongside her changing interests. After becoming dissatisfied with the direction of her career, she traveled to the U.S. for vocal lessons and demanded greater creative control upon returning. Subsequent releases between 1992 and 1993 showcased a heavy flair for R&B, with full and brassy tones, before she pivoted into pop-rock, her voice strained and willowy on covers of the Police and Tori Amos. In 1994, Wong embraced a more alternative sound with 胡思亂想 Random Thoughts—the parent album for her popular Cantonese “Dreams” cover—and ventured further afield with a pair of covers of Scottish dream-pop pioneers Cocteau Twins that closely recreated their style, Wong bending to match Elizabeth Fraser’s rolling trills.
While those records emulated Wong’s wide-reaching influences, 討好自己 Please Myself, her final album of 1994, sharpened her artistic identity. Up to that point, her covers had been faithful to the point of imitation, but here, Wong’s version of the Sundays’ “Here’s Where the Story Ends” offers a glimpse of her own vision. More dream than jangle, the cover flips the specificity of the original’s bittersweet narrative into a relatable lovesick sigh, and as Wong’s voice rises over the rattle and shimmer of the guitars, it sounds clear, bright, and full of infatuation. The rest of the album dresses Wong in a similar palette of dazzling dream pop and fond adoration.