I became a music industry godfather by writing confidantes.

Chapter 104 "Swallowtail Butterfly"

"Since we're not caterpillars, we must bravely rush into the fire; our fleeting youth should be like fireworks..."

Xue Yuanchun was so excited she almost jumped off the sofa, but she held back, using all her strength to suppress the urge to scream.

It sounds so good!

This pleasant sound is a completely different experience from listening to singles in the past.

Is the song "Swallowtail Butterfly" a good song?

Of course, without a doubt.

But the best parts don't just belong to the song "Swallowtail Butterfly," but rather to the synergy and build-up of all the preceding songs.

To give an example, it's like a song. You listen to it from the first word to the last. It starts with the intro, then the verse, and after a long wait, finally, the chorus arrives.

That's how I feel right now.

From track 1 "The Pain That Breathes" all the way to track 7 "Swallowtail Butterfly," there were a few songs that weren't as catchy as "Bubble" or as amazing as "Cage," but all the songs were pushing something forward and building up emotions. When we got to track 7, the chorus of the whole album finally blossomed.

That exhilarating feeling, from head to toe, was something Xue Yuanchun, a longtime fan, had never experienced in his more than twenty years of life.

Take Tao Cheng's first album as an example. Her favorite tracks are the three main singles, including "Falling Snow". As for the rest of the tracks, are they good?

It's alright.

But it's purely because of a love-hate relationship; people like them simply because it's Tao Cheng's song. If it were a different singer, that liking would be greatly diminished, or even disappear altogether.

But today's album, "Swallowtail Butterfly," is different. If you think back carefully, you'll find that none of the songs can be removed.

If you remove any song, the album will be missing a piece; something will feel disconnected and disjointed.

Xue Yuanchun felt it was good, but she couldn't quite explain why it was good in a short time.

Teacher Wei, who was standing nearby, knew.

"The transitions between songs on the album are very natural and smooth. The main tracks build upon each other, and the seven songs are interconnected. Each song has its own place in this structure. You can't leave out one song, and you can't change one song either."

Conceptually excellent.

Structurally excellent.

Teacher Wei instinctively resisted this conclusion.

It wasn't because I was proven wrong, but because the preconditions were a bit outrageous.

Such a brilliant album was actually produced by a newcomer.

In fact, not only are they newcomers, but they are also 21-year-old students at the Beijing Conservatory of Music, and this is their first time producing a studio album.

From concept development to arrangement, one person handled everything in three months!

Mr. Wei has been working as a music critic for decades. In his career, he has met many producers, some who are mature beyond their years, some who have accumulated knowledge and experience, some who have soared to great heights, and some who have only a fleeting moment of fame.

But to achieve this level of achievement at this age, within a limited timeframe...

"He's a genius!"

Teacher Wei couldn't find any other reason.

He glanced at Yang Du from afar and saw him leaning comfortably on the sofa, his fingers tapping lightly on his legs to the rhythm of the music, his overly young face radiating confidence.

He glanced around the audition room again and found that his colleagues all had almost the same expression.

The more someone knows about this field, the more expressive their face will be; the more they understand music theory, the clearer they will be about the impact this album has on people.

Qianli'er sat to the side, motionless for a long time.

As the final notes of "Swallowtail Butterfly" faded away, Teacher Wei let out a long sigh of relief and unbuttoned the first button of his shirt.

Then, he suddenly realized that the album wasn't finished yet.

There are three more songs.

Following the normal logic of album structure, the title track is usually placed in the second half of the album, which is generally the emotional peak. The following tracks should be the ending, like the outro of a song, to soothe the listener's emotions, allowing the album to land smoothly and then come to an end.

However, to Mr. Wei’s surprise, he still had high hopes for the remaining pieces.

At the same time, a question that made him feel a little uneasy emerged in his mind.

Will "Swallowtail Butterfly" really end in a normal way?

The moment this thought popped into his head, even Teacher Wei himself was startled.

After so many years in the industry, he still gets confused about such a simple issue as album structure.

This is very bad.

Track 8 has arrived, continuing the mood of Track 7, "Swallowtail Butterfly".

Teacher Wei breathed a sigh of relief.

Track9 also came in, continuing the wrap-up, in a fairly standard way.

Until track 10, "Unstoppable".

As soon as the intro started, Teacher Wei knew that he had let his guard down too soon.

This song is different from all the previous tracks in terms of logic. It is not the ending, but rather a step up from the transformation from a caterpillar to a butterfly.

It's like a swallowtail butterfly that has just emerged from its cocoon, not content with just spreading its wings, but soaring straight into the sky in front of everyone in the audition room!

The strings and drums, Tao Cheng's voice rises layer by layer. Just when you think that's the highest point, she continues to surge forward, higher and higher, like a wild horse that has finally broken free of its reins, running wildly across the wilderness without any restraint.

"I'll be fully armed and show you just how strong I am..."

"I'll be ready, and I'll show you what I'm made of..."

"I am unstoppable, like a wild horse without brakes..."

Teacher Wei was almost holding his breath as he listened to this song.

He couldn't remember exactly how long the song was.

Three minutes? Four minutes? Or five minutes?

All he knew was that after "Unstoppable" finished playing, he felt a little regretful, regretful that the song ended just like that.

He hadn't heard enough.

The listening room was quiet for a few seconds. Of course, it wasn't because of an awkward silence, but because everyone was still lost in the melody.

"Slap! Slap slap slap!"

Some people started clapping, some stood up to applaud, and then a third, a fourth...

More and more people began to applaud.

Applause thundered.

Teacher Wei sat demurely on the sofa, clapping, when she noticed that the female fan next to her had already jumped up, screaming and frantically wiping away tears from her face.

Noticing Teacher Wei's gaze, Xue Yuanchun sniffed a little shyly and smiled at him.

Teacher Wei couldn't laugh.

Because a terrible fact was right in front of him: starting with track 7 "Swallowtail Butterfly", he had never conceived a single word for a music review.

Moreover, when the melody of "Unstoppable" started playing, he was completely immersed in the song, forgetting to analyze the chord progressions and the arrangement techniques.

They didn't even realize whether Tao Cheng used his true voice or falsetto in that exhilarating high note, or whether it reached E5 or something else.

These were his duties as a music critic, and the reason he was here tonight.

However, he forgot all of that.

For the past few minutes, he was like a young boy listening to a symphony for the first time, immersed in the world of music, and utterly overwhelmed by the grand melody.

It seems... compared to the fan next to her who is both crying and laughing, there isn't much difference.