Progress: Take That's Comeback Album

Finally the guys of Take That have come a full circle and is back with a new album as well as a newly-rejoined member, Robbie Williams.

I'm glad to say that they have been saying true to their roots and have not swayed in terms of their music styles and tastes.

Their latest offering, Progress, has a total of 10 tracks and the first single, The Flood, gives you an epic feeling when you hear the ethereal and echo-filled song.

The album cover definitely describes their progress in terms of music, with five figures (representing each member) depicting a man moving from a crawling position to a standing position.

My personal favourites off the album has to be the tracks titled SOS and Wait. The former gives you a sense of urgency when you hear it, while the latter gives more boyband vibe with the strong pumping beats in the background.

Other songs include Kidz, Pretty Things, Happy Now, Underground Machine, What Do You Want From Me?, Affirmation and Eight Letters.

Altogether the whole album was good, but not so top-of-the-charts material. But it provides a good listen for those who need to wind down after a long day.

It's great that the guys are finally back together again and hopefully they will continue to produce more inspirational music.

The author was a young girl when she got smitten by the Take That's boys' harmony on Back For Good.

The Band Perry: Country Music's Latest Addition

The latest album on my playlist is The Band Perry's self-titled album, which fulfills the void that I had for country music.

Apart from notable country singers such as Taylor Swift, Carrie Underwood, Lady Antebellum and Miranda Lambert, I haven't come across any other singers which I had particularly liked in this genre.

The Band Perry consists of three siblings, Kimberly and her two brothers, Reid and Neil.

When I first heard The Band Perry's If I Die Young, I immediately fell in love with it. The song was full of meaning and I could not resist hitting the replay button over and over again.

With lyrics such as "If I die young/bury me in satin/lay me down on a bed of roses/sink me in the river at dawn/send me away with the words of a love song..." the song hit notes with youths who were going through bad times in their lives to the verge of contemplating suicide, and gave them hope not to give up.

My other favourites from the album includes Hip To My Heart, Independence and Quittin' You, which happen to be the more fast-paced tracks.

Other songs on the 12-tracks album are You Lie, All Your Life, Miss You Being Gone, Double Heart, Postcard from Paris, Walk Me Down the Middle, Lasso and Queen Maybelline.

The Band Perry's sound reminds me a lot of Lady Antebellum, since they have a similar make-up of two guys and a girl in a band, but they do have a more country feel as they have more instrumental sounds.

Let's support them in the hope that they would continue to come up with more great records in the future!

The author was touched when she first heard 'If I Die Young' playing on the radio as the lyrics hit a spot of a recent memory.

American Idol Winner Lee Dewyze's Live It Up Album

Having supported Lee Dewyze during the last American Idol season, I definitely have to get my hands on his album, post-Idol.

His latest album release, Live It Up, is mostly driven by his title track with the same name off the album. The song is a cool and mid-tempo track that shows off his husky vocals, perfect for starting off the album.

My personal favourites off the album is Sweet Serendipity and It’s Gotta Be Love, with their upbeat tempo and guitar sounds.

Consisting of 11 songs, other tracks on the album include Dear Isabelle, Beautiful Like You, Stay Here, Me and My Jealousy, Brooklyn Bridge, Weightless, Earth Stood Still, A Song About Love.

While Lee’s album is reflecting on life, his songs are not as dark and depressing as compared to the previous year’s American Idol winner Kris Allen’s post-Idol album.

Lee Dewyze’s songs with his guitar accompaniment definitely a good listen for a relaxing day at home or while driving around town.

The author is a huge fan of American Idol and looks forward to the 2011 season with the new judges’ line-up.

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Cecilia Ahern's The Gift

What would be the perfect gift to give to your loved ones for Christmas? For Lou Suffern, he couldn't care less about what he got them for the special day since he's to busy with work to bother about these little details.

He didn't know that a small gesture of offering his hot coffee to a homeless man who sits outside his office building would turn out to be the best gift that he ever gave to a person, at the same time benefiting Lou and his family.

The homeless man's name is Gabe, and he tells Lou about the people who walks in and out of the building everyday, precisely describing their shoes and daily clock-ins and clock-outs. Intrigued at the man's talent for spotting details, Lou got a job for Gabe in his office's mailroom.

Slowly Lou began to despise Gabe for his quick reflexes at work which made him look like he's not the best worker in the office anymore. But Lou also has more problems, he has to much work to bother about his family anymore. Trouble begins as he has to be at more than one place at the same time.

Gabe gave him a supposedly magical pill which helped him to split himself into two, thus being able to be in two places at the same time. He's confused the day after, but somehow the events at both places come straight into his mind clearly. Could he just dreamt about being in two places at once?

Cecilia Ahern manages to weave heartfelt messages, action and suspense in this book's plot and hopefully she will continue write many more good books.

The author first read Cecilia Ahern's P.S. I Love You, cried so much while reading it and has been collecting her other books since then.

JYJ: Currently the Biggest Boy Band in the World

I came across a question on Yahoo! while surfing, and it was about which is the biggest boy band in the world. My mind automatically thought of the Backstreet Boys and N’Sync, since they were two of the biggest boy bands that I’ve known.

My answer was proved wrong by Yahoo!, who gave statistics that showed that the biggest boy band of the moment was in fact JYJ, a Korean trio. I bet many of you out there didn’t know that too, and are equally surprised as I am to discover that a Korean boy band is more famous and popular as compared to their American counterparts.

Formerly from the Korean boy band DBSK (also known as TVXQ), the three members were involved in court case with their former record label. Since breaking away from their former band, they formed JYJ, which stands for their names Junsu, Yuchun and Jejung.

Since DBSK has a huge fan base, it is not a real surprise that these fans will continue to support JYJ. But what I didn’t expect was their popularity soared and now with the release of their latest English album, The Beginning, it seems that the boys are set to continue increasing the number of their fan base worldwide.

Their English album is a worthwhile effort from a Korean boy band, with collaborations from notable names in the music industry, such as Kanye West, Malik Yusef and Flowsik.

Out of the seven songs on the album, the first single Ayyy Girl has already been proven a success. The second single Be My Girl, my personal favourite, is also quickly gaining popularity. Other songs on the album include Empty, Still In Love, I Can Soar, I Love You and Be The One.

Do give these boys a listen, and I promise that you will not be disappointed!

The author loves questions with answers throw her off the ground, as it starts a whole research to understand why the answer is not what she believed it was supposed to be.

Letters To Juliet

The title of the movie captivated my attention from the start. Letters to Juliet seemed to be romantic movie, set to end on a sad note, just as Romeo and Juliet's love story.

Amanda Seyfried is Sophie, a young American girl who aspires to be a writer but is stuck doing a fact-checking job, while Gael Garcia Bernal is Victor, her fiancé, a chef who is about to open his own restaurant.

They are supposed to go on a so-called 'honeymoon' in Italy, but Victor ends up visiting more vineyards and auctions than spending quality time with Sophie. Bored with nothing to entertain herself, Sophie walks alone in the town area and chances upon women putting up letters on a wall.

She discovers that the letters were addressed to Juliet and the secretaries of Juliet will come each evening to take down the letters and answer each and every letter.

Sophie happened to find a letter that dates back 50 years when she offered to help the ladies reply the mail. Her reply was so touching that Claire, now an old woman, was encouraged to find her long lost love, Lorenzo.

Along the way, what could be expected more than failures at locating the right Lorenzo, and also Sophie falling slowly in love with Claire's grandson, Charlie, played by Christopher Egan.

Sophie knew that she shouldn't be in love with Charlie since she's engaged to Victor, but sparks fly whenever their eyes meet. Could they end up together in the end or is their union not meant to be?

Find out by watching Letters to Juliet!

The author loves watching romantic comedies while snuggled in her warm bed instead of in the dark and chilly theatres.

Kara's New Mini Album: Jumping

I'm a huge fan of Kara's music, particularly after listening Lupin, their smash hit which was at the top of the Korean Music Bank for a few weeks.

They recently released a mini album, Jumping, and their new sound is more retro, as their album cover suggests, with a hint of techno sounds.

The mini album consists of 6 songs, Love Is, title track Jumping, Burn, Binks, With, and an instrumental version of Jumping.

My personal favourite off the album Binks, a mellow and soothing number which is perfect after a tired and long day at work.

I truly appreciate the Kara girls' new direction in this album, as more and more Korean girl bands are coming into the market and they all tend to sound the same with bubblegum pop and techno beats.

Definitely a good effort from the girls!

The author is a fan of K-pop, no doubt influenced by watching Korean dramas.

J.D. Robb and her addictive 'In Death' series

Usually I am into chick-lit books, but recently an author named J.D. Robb caught my attention with her action and thriller ‘In Death’ series.

Born In Death was the first book that I read from the series. Eve Dallas the detective and her businessman husband Roarke, captured my attention as they shine as a couple who worked closely together to solve crimes in the city of New York.

What intrigued me was Roarke’s character had a dark past and he was possibly involved in crimes himself, yet Eve still has a strong confidence in sharing her work details with him.

In this book, Eve and Roarke race to save heavily pregnant Mavis, Eve’s best friend, who was kidnapped.

Creation in Death was my second book off the series, and this one definitely had me craving for more! The suspense and race against time kept me turning page after page and I had a hard time putting it down.

I got addicted to the storyline, so much so that I even started playing detective by putting together clues and trying to guess who the culprit is.

My advice to all suspense-loving readers out there is: go get yourselves a J.D. Robb book now!

The author intends to collect all books in the ‘In Death’ series, and will start scouring for them this coming Friday at the Big Bad Wolf Books Sale.

Sungkyunkwan Scandal: My Current K-Drama

Ever the TV-addict, I recently got hooked on Korean dramas on KBS World. The latest drama that I’m currently following is Sungkyunkwan Scandal, set in Sungkyunkwan University in the late Joseon era during the reign of King Jeongjo, revolving around the exploits and love stories of four youths.

Kim Yoon Hee, portrayed by the pretty Park Min Young, leads a double life, she’s a test proxy and writer by day disguised as a man, and by night she’s a girl, helping out her mother at home.

When her brother's illness worsens and their family is in danger of being evicted from their house for lack of money, Yoon Hee enters the school under his name, Kim Yun Sik, still disguised as a man in her desperation to support him.

There, she becomes friends with the intelligent and upright Lee Sun Joon (hottie Micky Yoochun), who is the Prime Minister’s son, the playboy Goo Yong Ha (cutie Soong Joo Ki) and rebellious Moon Jae Shin (a scruffy-looking Yoo Ah In).

But as the drama unfolds, Yoon Hee has to learn how to act and behave like a man, which she learnt slowly and through hardships. Hard times aside, she had many other fun moments in Sungkyunkwan as the lessons were interesting with their eccentric Professor Jeong Yak Yong and tournaments such as archery were held to ease the burden off reading books for the scholars.

Romance and jealousy is also in the air as Yoon Hee’s identity is revealed and each of the boys want to protect her as well as make her theirs.

Do tune in to Sungkyunkwan Scandal airing on KBS WORLD every Monday and Tuesday at 9 p.m. on Astro Channel 391 to catch the latest episodes!

The author first watched the Korean drama The Golden Apple, loved it so much and have been following Korean dramas ever since.