Written by Louis Pelingen
For many people born in the early to mid-2000s, the knowledge of living in their early 20s in the year 2025 is a pressure that can’t be shaken easily. Time is running past them quickly, requirements and responsibilities are stacked high, and the world is opening below their feet so much that it is hard to keep up with its tide. It’s an overwhelming time to grasp what’s happening in front of their eyes, but sometimes, it’s important to live through it and find something to cope with amidst that exhausting part of their lives.
To SUYEN, she faces that exhaustion by picking up her red guitar and unleashing her feelings through her debut EP, SUYEN IMNIDA. Assembled as a timestamp of her young adult emotions, she waddles through pieces of pop rock with bits of brit-pop shimmer and twee sensibilities as the cherry on top. She’s yearning to cope with the pressures she carries as a 21-year-old, her passions lie through her girlish delivery that showcases her exuberance. The title track plays with her name being mistaken for her identity through nimble guitars and playful vocal deliveries. “Tampo” glimmers with the additions of rondalla amidst admirably lilting tones, and “Bente” stomps with its staccato keys and flaring guitar passages that build into a riotously joyous chorus.
While the small-scaled scope allows SUYEN to release all those bubbling feelings from her sleeves, her stumbling points can be quite noticeable. Her production with the assistance of Zild and Sam Marquez may provide snappy flair to the melodies, yet the inconsistent mixing doesn’t give them many favors. Vocals tend to be in a tug of war with the guitars, leading them to be pushed either in the front or the back in the mix.
It’s also evident that SUYEN is still curious about gauging her vocal presence to the music at large, sometimes capturing the sense of yearning and playfulness decently, but not exactly working well when trying to be enticing on “Something ‘bout u“. This follows through with the overall sound itself, embodying 2000s pop-rock flourish very well. Yet the lack of a distinct melodic core leads to SUYEN wandering within this general sonic palette: texturally full, but sometimes becoming musically dull.
For what it is, SUYEN IMNIDA opens the gates to where SUYEN’s ambitions will lie – a snapshot of where she was in the past and a reminder of the roads that will open up for her in the future. The journey into the bewildering 20s may be scary to some, but for SUYEN, with her red guitar in her arms and a cheery demeanor on her face, is enough to take on the world ahead of her.
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