JJ Lin’s second album, 2004’s 第二天堂 (Haven), was the one that made him a star on his home turf of Singapore, but the follow-up, 編號89757, is the album where he really started showing the world what he could do. From the start, Lin shows off his compositional chops—“木乃伊 (Mummy)”, which became the theme song of the Singaporean TV series Zero to Hero, starts off like the opening theme to a blockbuster movie before quickly shifting to a traditional Asian feel and finally settling into a slinky R&B groove. Old and new meet in the title track as well, as Singaporean melodies bang up against robotic voices and other high-tech trappings. “莎士比亞的天份 (Shakespeare’s Talent)” is the kind of quiet, tender tune that in lesser hands might be blown up to power-ballad size midway through, losing all its intimacy in the process, but Lin sagely keeps the brake on, maintaining his pillow-talk croon all the way through as the arrangement stays on the spare side. The sinuous “明天 (Tomorrow)” has a minimalist, almost postmodern vibe; it gives way to the warm, romantic feel of the ballad “簡簡單單 (Simply)”, underscoring Lin’s disinclination to operate within one mode for too long a time. “盜 (Steal)” is the album’s tour de force, the track where Lin careens through several styles, grooves and even tempos, as if it were a radio rapidly switching back and forth between Mandopop, hip-hop, R&B and rock stations. At the time, Lin was still a relatively new artist on the scene, and his third album did its part to help establish his star stature. “一千年以後 (A Thousand Years Later)”, spotlighting his signature romantic croon, would become one of his audience’s most beloved tunes and a frequent show-closer at his concerts. It also became used as the closing theme for the aforementioned Zero to Hero.