I became a music industry godfather by writing confidantes.

Chapter 103 "Swallowtail Butterfly"

With a clean and crisp piano prelude, track 1, "The Pain That Breathes," filled the listening room.

"That sounds so good!"

This was Xue Yuanchun's first thought.

As a fan, she usually listens to music with headphones or by playing it on her phone, but that feeling is completely different from sitting in a million-dollar listening room today.

The captivating voice wasn't coming from all directions as some online sources claim; it was alive, surrounding my body, and every detail was clearly audible.

When the second verse came in, Xue Yuanchun felt gratified: with a hit song like "Bubble" that sold millions of copies, and now with "The Pain That Breathes," Orange's second album is a sure thing!

What's with all this talk about "one dragging nine" or "two dragging eight"? As long as it sounds nice, that's all that matters.

However, Ms. Wei, who was sitting next to her, shook her head almost imperceptibly.

While the arrangement of "The Pain That Breathes" is good and Tao Cheng's emotional handling is very delicate and appropriate, that's about it.

Without a doubt, this is a safe bet.

Teacher Wei began to mentally prepare: "Album producer Yang Du is indeed talented. 'Flammable and Explosive,' 'Painted Heart,' and 'Red Rose' are all top-notch works on their own, rare gems in the Chinese music scene."

"But he was obviously lazy in the structural treatment of the album 'Swallowtail Butterfly', and went back to the old path of urban love songs from Tao Cheng's first album, lacking any refreshing highlights."

Teacher Wei leaned back on the soft sofa and quickly found a reason.

"That's right. The entire process of creating the album 'Swallowtail Butterfly' took only three months from its inception to completion. To be able to produce a hit like 'Bubble' with tens of millions of downloads within three months is probably Yang Du's limit."

This isn't a question of whether someone is a genius or not; it's a question of physical limitations.

Even seasoned producers who have been in the industry for many years wouldn't dare to confidently say they can produce an excellent album in three months.

"Filling the remaining tracks with high-quality love songs to maintain a minimum standard is indeed a smart move. From a commercial perspective, Yang Du is a competent producer."

But to say how amazing "Swallowtail Butterfly" is, or how much impact and surprise it will bring to the pop music scene, is a bit of a stretch.

Sure enough, track 2 played an urban love song.

Track 3 continues the urban love song style.

Teacher Wei adjusted his posture, his mind already rehearsing the beginning of his speech: "Swallowtail Butterfly is an out-and-out commercial album, with the single 'Bubble' as the main track, supplemented by well-crafted urban love songs, completing a successful album within a safe framework..."

Several colleagues nearby began exchanging whispered glances, some sighing, some shaking their heads, and words like "insurance" and "living off past glories" could be faintly heard.

Xue Yuanchun listened with great satisfaction, it could be said that she thoroughly enjoyed it. She could feel the sorrow that was not painful, the melancholy and longing in Tao Cheng's singing.

In short, it has a beautiful melody, rich content, a clear theme, and is captivating.

Two words—it sounds great.

During the gap between the end of track 3 and the start of track 4, Xue Yuanchun vaguely heard the discussion of the music critics next to him.

She glanced at them, inwardly scoffing, "What kind of taste do you have? You can't even appreciate such a great song. Don't you know Tao Cheng is your bread and butter?!"

"Without singers, where would music critics come from? Now they're actually nitpicking at their own bread and butter! It's outrageous! How dare they! Death penalty! Death penalty to them all!"

Then, track 4 came.

piano.

It's a familiar prelude, Xue Yuanchun's "Bubble," which has already reached triple-digit play counts on mobile phones.

She subconsciously sat up straight. Even though she had listened to it hundreds of times, Xue Yuanchun was still captivated when the melody of "Bubble" played in the listening room.

At the same time, Teacher Wei, standing next to her, was slightly taken aback.

Something seems off?

"Based on the previous reasoning, if 'Swallowtail Butterfly' is using 'Bubble' as the main track and other love songs to fill the gaps, then 'Bubble' should not be in track 4."

The reason is simple: according to the concept of the album emerging from its cocoon, if a powerful single like "Bubble" were to burst out on track 4, what else could follow?

Should we continue using those lukewarm love songs to fill the void?

Absolutely not.

This is like a towering peak suddenly appearing on a vast grassland.

But what happens after the peak?

There are still six songs to go.

If the mood takes a sharp turn for the worse at this point, and the album continues to rely on urban love songs to fill the gaps, then the entire structure of the album will collapse.

Top-heavy and unbalanced; a promising start but a disappointing finish.

"Would Yang Du make such a basic mistake?" Teacher Wei asked himself. "No."

Teacher Wei turned his head for the first time and exchanged a glance with Qianli'er next to him.

He saw the same surprise and disbelief in Qianli'er's eyes. Clearly, this music critic, who had been in the music industry for many years, had also realized the same problem.

"Perhaps I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions so quickly."

When "Bubble" ended and track 5 began, a dark, suspenseful, and even slightly oppressive prelude suddenly resounded throughout the listening room.

On the screen at the very front, the song title and lyrics appeared – “Cage”.

"This style..."

The melody of "Flammable and Explosive" immediately popped into Xue Yuanchun's mind. This oppressive prelude was completely in line with the single "Flammable and Explosive" that Tao Cheng and Yang Du collaborated on for the first time.

Five months later, this stunning dark style has returned to Tao Cheng's album in a different form.

As a pure fan and layman, Xue Yuanchun doesn't understand music theory or album structure concepts, but she can understand emotions.

She could still distinguish between the most basic things, such as sadness and happiness.

Xue Yuanchun's most professional thought of the night surfaced in his mind: "Since the album is called 'Swallowtail Butterfly,' and the announced concept is 'breaking out of the cocoon,' aren't we currently in the most repressive and darkest cocoon? Shouldn't we break out of the cocoon next?"

If even a layman like Xue Yuanchun could understand this principle, then naturally, professionals like Teacher Wei could also figure it out.

Teacher Wei gradually deleted all the drafts she had just prepared.

"It seems I underestimated Yang Du. He didn't play it safe with 'Swallowtail Butterfly'; the first few songs were actually just setting the stage!"

The transition from track 1, "The Pain That Breathes," to track 3 is not a return to the old path, but rather a necessity for the narrative of the entire album.

The saying goes, "No destruction, no construction." Whether it's destruction or construction, there needs to be something in place for destruction to occur and for construction to take place.

Without the first three songs, the explosive power of "Bubble" would have no foundation, and the dark and oppressive atmosphere of "Cage" would have no origin.

After thinking it through, Mr. Wei was somewhat convinced. He, a senior music critic with decades of experience, had actually been tricked by a novice producer who had only been in the industry for half a year.

After the piece ended, Xue Yuanchun glanced around at the music critics nearby and noticed that no one was sighing anymore.

"Hmm, it seems you guys do have some discernment." She retracted her death sentence. "Orange is brilliant!"

Amidst the anticipation of numerous music critics, track 6 came, followed by track 7, the album's title track, "Swallowtail Butterfly."