{{EngvarB|date=May 2016}} {{Use dmy dates|date=July 2024}} {{Infobox album | name = Di-Dar | type = studio | artist = Faye Wong | cover = FayeWong DiDar.jpg | alt = | released = 22 December 1995 | recorded = | studio = | language = Cantonese | genre = *Pop *trip hop *dream pop | length = 42:50 | label = Cinepoly | producer = Alvin Leong | prev_title = One Person Playing Two Roles | prev_year = 1995 | next_title = Fuzao | next_year = 1996 }} '''''Di-Dar''''' is the ninth Cantonese studio album by Chinese musician Faye Wong, released on 22 December, 1995, by Cinepoly Records. An eclectic mix of dream pop, psychedelia, and trip hop,<ref name="pitchfork:0">{{Cite web |last=Hong |first=Michael |title=Faye Wong: Faye Wong: 讨好自己 Please Myself / 菲靡靡之音 Decadent Sound of Faye / Di-Dar / 浮躁 Fuzao |url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/faye-wong-please-myself-decadent-sound-of-faye-di-dar-fuzao/ |access-date=2026-05-24 |website=Pitchfork |language=en-US}}</ref> the album was a continuation of Wong's experimental efforts, a departure from her previous work under Cantopop and R&B influences. Wong's next record, the dream pop ''Fuzao'' (1996), was a culmination of her artistic vision. ''Di-Dar'' was Wong's final Cantonese album until ''Be Perfunctory'' (2015), a re-release of two extended plays; all of Wong's later albums were recorded in Mandarin with a limited number of Cantonese tracks, primarily alternative versions aimed at the Hong Kong market.
Most of Wong's collaborators on ''Di-Dar'' had been involved in her earlier work. Lyricist Lin Xi (Albert Leung) penned nine tracks on the album; songwriter C.Y. Kong, Wong's then-husband Dou Wei, and producer Zhang Yadong made notable contributions. In particular, Wong's work with Lin Xi and Zhang set a precedent for later albums such as ''Lovers & Strangers'' (1999).
The album was a commercial success and sold 1.5 millions copies across Asia, with title track "Di-Dar" and "曖昧", both composed by Wong herself, becoming well-known songs.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Hong Kong cantopop : a concise history|last=Zhu|first=Yaowei|isbn=978-9888390588|location=Hong Kong|oclc=962015863|date = January 2017}}</ref> ''Di-Dar'' peaked at number one in Hong Kong according to the IFPI and ''Billboard'' magazine.<ref>{{Cite magazine|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3g4EAAAAMBAJ|title=Billboard Hits of the World|magazine=Billboard|date=20 January 1996|publisher=Nielsen Business Media, Inc.|volume=108|location=New York, N.Y.|pages=62|language=en|issn=0006-2510}}</ref>
In a retrospective ''Pitchfork'' review, ''Di-Dar'' is described as "sketch[sic] a deteriorating relationship", with Lin Xi's lyrics "suffusing the album's romanticism with a sense of anxiety and the burning desire to disappear."<ref name="pitchfork:0" /> The album provokes themes of decadence and agitation, with a psychedelic atmosphere presented in uncanny melodies such as that in "迷路".
Deemed one of Wong's most coherent artistic efforts, the dream pop and trip hop elements of ''Di-Dar'' would influence her later work such as ''Fuzao'' – on which Wong collaborated with her long time influence, the Cocteau Twins – and ''Fable'' (2000), the latter of which includes a five-track Buddhist-themed song cycle composed by Wong in the trip hop genre.
== Composition == Following ''Random Thoughts'' and ''Please Myself'' (1994), Wong steered away from the mainstream and instead explored contemporary alternative influences. ''Di-Dar'' marked Wong's first attempt in the trip hop scene, then popularized by acts such as Björk and Massive Attack. Including "Di-Dar" and the untitled "(無題)", all tracks are named with two Chinese characters or syllables, an aesthetic preference in several of Wong's albums including ''Sky'' (1994). Of the ten tracks on ''Di-Dar,'' three are covers, notably with "曖昧" being Wong's second cover of Taiwanese songwriter Salsa Chen's compositions.
==Critical reception== {{Music ratings|rev8=''Pitchfork''|rev8score=7.9/10<ref>{{Cite web|title=Faye Wong: Faye Wong: 讨好自己 Please Myself / 菲靡靡之音 Decadent Sound of Faye / Di-Dar / 浮躁 Fuzao|url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/faye-wong-please-myself-decadent-sound-of-faye-di-dar-fuzao/|access-date=28 October 2023|website=Pitchfork|language=en-US}}</ref>}} ''Di-Dar'' ranked at number 27 in ''Ming Pao Weekly'''s list of "40 Classic Cantopop Albums of the Last 40 Years" published in October 2008. Music journalist Fung Lai-Chee described it as "the best psychedelic and best-selling avant-garde work in Cantonese pop, with songs that are self-centred, ignoring market and others' work. Abstruse, obscure and mysterious."
In a 2023 review of four reissued Wong albums (''Please Myself'' to ''Fuzao'') by ''Pitchfork'', Michael Hong called it Wong's "finest Cantonese album" and "more atmospheric, almost psychedelic" than her previous work.<ref name="pitchfork:0" />
==Track listing== {{Track listing | headline = ''Di-Dar'' {{nobold|– Standard edition}} | title1 = Di-Dar | note1 = | length1 = 2:21 | music1 = Faye Wong | extra1 = Dou Wei | title2 = 假期 | length2 = 3:55 | music2 = Faye Wong | extra2 = Zhang Yadong | title3 = 迷路 | length3 = 5:06 | music3 = C.Y. Kong | extra3 = C.Y. Kong | title4 = 曖昧 | note4 = Cover of《情雪》by Tracy Huang | length4 = 4:43 | music4 = Salsa Chen | extra4 = Adrian Chan | title5 = 或者 | length5 = 4:29 | music5 = Alex San | extra5 = Alex San | title6 = 我想 | length6 = 3:38 | music6 = Zhang Yadong | extra6 = Zhang Yadong | title7 = 享受 | note7 = Cover of《あの空に帰ろう》by Shoko Suzuki | length7 = 5:10 | music7 = Shoko Suzuki, Masami Tozawa | extra7 = Adrian Chan | title8 = 一半 | note8 = Cover of "Narito Ako" by Viktoria | length8 = 4:27 | music8 = Viktoria | extra8 = Adrian Chan | title9 = (無題) | length9 = 4:21 | music9 = C.Y. Kong | extra9 = C.Y. Kong | title10 = 流星 | length10 = 4:40 | lyrics10 = Chow Yiu-fai | music10 = Tats Lau | extra10 = Adrian Chan | extra_column = Arrangement | total_length = 42:50 <!-- Automatically generated with User:JPxG/TrackSum.js --> | all_writing = Lin Xi unless otherwise stated }}
{{Track listing | headline = ''Di-Dar'' {{nobold|– Japanese edition bonus track}} | title1 = One Person Playing Two Roles | note1 = 一人分飾兩角; ''Yat Yun Fun Sik Leung Gok'' | length1 = 4:45 | total_length = 4:45 <!-- Automatically generated with User:JPxG/TrackSum.js --> }}
==Charts== {| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" ! scope="col" | Chart (1996) ! scope="col" | Peak<br />position |- ! scope="row" | Hong Kong Albums (IFPI)<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Hits of the World Charts |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_w4EAAAAMBAJ&dq=faye+wong+ifpi+hong+kong+group+di-dar&pg=PA57 |magazine=Billboard |access-date=5 April 2024 |date=3 February 1996 |via=Google Books}}</ref> | align="center" | 1 |}
==Sales and certifications== {{Certification Table Top}} {{Certification Table Entry|region=Hong Kong|type=album|artist=Faye Wong|title=Faye Wong|number=3|award=Platinum|relyear=1997|certyear=1997|domestic=true|certref=<ref name=":5">{{Cite web |last= |date=21 September 2021 |title=历史上的今天1969年8月8日中国流行音乐天后王菲出生 |trans-title=Today in History August 8, 1969 Chinese pop music queen Faye Wong was born |url=https://k.sina.cn/article_6485801339_18295797b02000ydtc.html |access-date=22 July 2024 |website=Sina |language=zh}}</ref>}} {{Certification Table Summary}} {{Certification Table Entry|type=album|region=Asia|nocert=true|salesamount=1,500,000|salesref=<ref name="ejinsight:0">{{Cite news|url=http://www.ejinsight.com/20160205-what-is-really-killing-cantopop/|title=What's really killing Cantopop|last=Lee|first=Alan|date=20 February 2016|work=EJ Insight|access-date=3 April 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160225040834/http://www.ejinsight.com/20160205-what-is-really-killing-cantopop/ |archive-date=25 February 2016|publisher=Hong Kong Economic Journal|language=en-US}}</ref>}} {{Certification Table Bottom|noshipments=true}}
== Release history == {| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" !Region !Release date !Label !Format(s) |- ! scope="row" | Hong Kong |22 December 1995 |Cinepoly Records |{{hlist|CD|cassette}} |- ! scope="row" | Taiwan |1996 |Linfair Records |CD |- ! scope="row" | China |1996 |Jindian Audio and Video |{{hlist|CD|cassette}} |- ! scope="row" rowspan="2" |Japan |25 February 1996 | rowspan="2" |Polydor |CD |- |26 September 1997 |CD (reissue) |- ! scope="row" rowspan="5" |Hong Kong |7 May 2003 | rowspan="2" |Cinepoly Records |DSD |- |9 September 2004 |SACD |- |26 October 2010 | rowspan="3" |Universal Music Hong Kong |CD (Golden Disc Anniversary Series) |- |12 November 2020 |CD (24K Gold series) |- |15 December 2021 |LP (ARS series) |- ! scope="row" | Japan |27 September 2023 |Universal Music Japan |LP |}
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== *{{discogs release|2311190|Di-Dar}}
{{Faye Wong}}
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Category:1995 albums Category:Faye Wong albums Category:Cinepoly Records albums Category:Cantopop albums
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