Author: Louis Pelingen

ALBUM REVIEW: underscores – U

Written by Rory Marshall

Mainstream pop, while widely loved, has to play it safe to appeal to its broad audience. But once in a while, there’s always someone to shake up the landscape and bring new ideas into the mix. Enter underscores, the Fil-Am headphone-clad hyperpop darling with her newest album “U”. The album is more accessible than her other work, featuring all the ear-catching hooks, dance-beat tempos, and melodies that beg you to sing along tropes that mainstream music tends to have- but that doesn’t discount its experimentality in the context of pop as a whole.

Coming from her last project, her sound has taken a U-Turn from grungy electro-pop rock seen in “Wallsocket” to going back to her roots, equipped with influences from dubstep and future bass, harkening back to her early SoundCloud days. The album exudes confidence and charisma, paying homage to her production inspirations; taking the intensity and edge from dubstep icon Skrillex, while taking a softer page from Imogen Heap. It’s a love letter to the genres while being unmistakably underscores.

Although the album is on the shorter side with only 9 tracks and a runtime of 34 minutes, no track shows any lack or feels thrown in as an afterthought. Every synthesizer, vocoder, and LFO is intentional and produced to a tee while not going farther than it needs to. Each song stands on its own while being cohesive as an ensemble. It’s a testament to the ear she has for music production, with it being an album with no features, and her being the sole credit for the production.

As impressive as the production is, the themes and lyrical content were not left by the wayside. With the glitz and glamor, laissez-faire hookups, and Hollywood parties that ultrastardom brings also come unrequited love, isolation, lost identity, and sobering self-reflection. It’s easy to forget that with each track being a dance-worthy banger, underscores is taking the opportunity to outline the dark side of fame. Rather than causing a dissonance between the lyrical content and the music instrumentals, underscores was able to toe the line between the headbanging and crying in the club, creating a metaphor for her experience being in the spotlight.

With all the confidence and conviction that the project radiates, there’s a constant shadow of self-doubt cast over the tracks, sewn into the lyrics. While tracks like the explosive opening piece “Tell Me (U Want It)”, “Music” and “Do It” carry the “Live fast, Die young” detached attitude that one adopts for their life of fame, tracks like “Bodyfeeling”, “Lovefield”, and the tragic closing track “Wish U Well” show the consequences that can come with it. The life you left behind, and the pitfalls of losing oneself. This is succinctly captured in one of the most vulnerable tracks of the album: “The Peace”. A track about changing yourself in any way just to keep the one you love in your life. While it’s a devastating prospect, the authenticity of her words cuts deep into the hearts of listeners who’ve found themselves in the same position: “And I won’t smoke unless you’re smoking too / Uh, yeah, I just wanna keep the peace with you”.

With the depth that ‘U’ has, by the time you’ve finished it, you’ll realize the toll it had on you. It’s wonderfully nuanced, capturing the double-edged sword of notoriety in a maximalist hyperpop masterpiece. It’s a breath of fresh air for the mainstream pop scene as a whole, giving the masses a break from songs with hooks engineered to grab your attention in a 10-second TikTok. Everything from the production, the songwriting, and the overall vibe that underscores created for the project; The heart put into this album is undeniable, and the sound speaks for itself. Labeling her a trailblazer in the scene would be an understatement, and it wouldn’t be surprising to hear her influence pop up in the mainstream moving forward.

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October 13, 2026
TRACK REVIEW: Tatz Maven ft. SHNTI – Takbo

Written by Louis Pelingen

As the guitars echo and the punchy drums roll over “Takbo,” its unflinching rhythms uncover the conflict of seeing someone running away from a place that wholeheartedly welcomes them. This turmoil allows Tatz Maven’s expressive flows to be one left wandering for answers, naturally progressing towards SHNTI’s stout cadence that never waits, but instead immediately engulfs that frustration of being left behind. A tangled pain that is melodically expressed throughout.

What makes “Takbo” stand out throughout Tatz’s gradual singles that he has released thus far is how emotionally gripping it is, ramping up what he’s capable of as a musician and supercharging it. If this is the song that makes him run further across with gusto, it’s worth following where he’ll go next.

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October 13, 2026
MIXTAPE REVIEW: Zae – STREETZ MIXTAPE

Written by Adrian Jade Francisco

For years, Zae thrived on rolling 808 hi-hats and crisp snares, forging her own identity as a household name in the Philippine local hip-hop scene. Her previous catalog, with hits such as “Edi Wag” and “Filipina Killa,” serves as the very blueprint of her sound. But on ‘Streetz Mixtape,’ the Filipina rap sensation detours off the trap-heavy loops, letting her R&B sensibilities come through certain tracks while retaining the fierceness that made her bangers.

The project, composed of 13 tracks, is a testament to Zae’s significant maturity of her penmanship and refined technique. In “BOMBA,” She refuses to be overlooked, using flirtatious and boastful lines to reinforce her individuality and place in the industry. The direction of ‘STREETZ MIXTAPE’ steers toward a slick R&B duet with Sica on “I Can Be The One,” balancing lyricism of street independence and its romantic undertones. Halfway through, the album’s street-centric theme remains with “Thug Life,” featuring THUGSTA. With its boom-bap instrumentation, it tackles community survival and hood loyalty with kinetic delivery. “SWAG” serves as a send-off, wrapping up her overarching themes of self-confidence and a middle finger to industry gatekeepers.

‘STREETZ MIXTAPE’ suffers from occasional tonal whiplash as it splits its identity between aggressive trap and smooth R&B. This jarring contrast leads to disjointed sequencing, stripping the record of a cohesive flow. Instead of blending these styles, the record plays out like two completely different materials fighting for space. Mid-album tracks “tell ur boyfriend” (feat. Fern.) and “Xxxbaby” (feat. Nazty Kidd) lose that sharp edge, causing the momentum to slow down before picking back up toward the final stretch.

Still, ‘STREETZ MIXTAPE’ proves Zae won’t be boxed in by her own success. Her leap beyond trap shows an artist testing the limits of her versatility. The mixtape may struggle under its own dual identity, but that tension is the sound of Zae shattering her own formula. Even after breaking out of her shell, Zae still needs to bridge her two worlds; blending her trap bite and R&B polish would turn this promising pivot into a cohesive statement.

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October 13, 2026
ALBUM REVIEW: shed – if heaven is real

Written by Nikolai Dineros

Batangas just left a mark in Filipino shoegaze, a scene that is already defined by the formidability of many growing talents and its steady embedding into OPM ubiquity. Cementing the region’s place this time around is the Lipa-based, emo- and grunge-adjacent shed, with the release of their debut album ‘if heaven is real’.

Following their self-titled project and a few singles here and there, a template to the band’s overall sound identity is traced. ‘if heaven is real’ serves as the band’s proving ground, an opportunity to bury the nail planted by earlier songs like ‘mahika’ and ‘forgotten song’—songs that exemplify the band’s penchant for a certain blossom in their sound, where the viscous rhythm section envelopes the bright, manic wails of the lone guitar riff.

The challenge for their debut album was not to exceed what was first established, but rather to prove that the ingenuity in their earlier releases was not a sleight-of-hand trick you cannot show the same audience twice.

shed overcame this challenge on ‘if heaven is real’ thanks largely to the variety of execution throughout the track list. Given their proclivities for roughness and sonic punching power, depth is no longer a question in shed’s toolbelt. And instead of trying to reach greater heights with their sound, the band focused on expanding their emotional range—more specifically, the applied use cases for their already honed affinities.

As a result, we get pent-up anguish expressed in a smorgasbord of ways. For one, an unwitting listener may pass off “easy” and “tangerines” as blackgaze, while “relapse” and “susi” are more akin to the classic shoegaze sound of the mid-’90s. Though genre influences and mood are intermingling, the unrelenting attitude is the glue that holds every element in place.

But most notable of all is ‘blue’, a returning track from a past project that serves as the album closer. This song takes the best trait from every song in the album and amplifies them to great heights: dense layers of heavy guitar riffs at odds with each other, a tempo of almost breakneck speed, the hope-filled ecstasy of a well-executed melody, and themes of endless yearning that rival the tragedy in tales of old. This is easily a highlight not only on ‘if heaven is real’, but in shed’s journey thus far.

In contrast to the band’s dead-set dedication to carving their identity through loudness, songs from ‘if heaven is real’ derive their thematic shoegaze melancholy from the unmoving. Songs like “moths,” “easy,” and “heaven” share this common thread, usually depicting human trepidations that are rather still than tumultuous.

For instance, “moths” plays around its own metaphor in its depiction of the tragic paradox of affection and avoidance; “easy” reads like a lullaby sung by a seemingly grieving narrator; and “heaven” is a claustrophobic sketch of a narrator trapped in the stasis of loss. The tone of shed’s overall pen work in the album stems from this decaying monotony that blossoms into a dissonant harmony to the unyielding chaos that is their sound. This can only be achieved by shed’s innate ruthlessness, which they have proven time and again.

‘If heaven is real’ is best described as a storm. Its relentless pressure lays waste to everything it touches, having gathered plenty of force from shed’s past projects and coverage through the band’s persistent experimentation. Yet through it all, shed remains steadfast, unmoving, and in full control amid the chaos.

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October 13, 2026
EP REVIEW: Baby Dolls – ZoomBaby Dolls

Written by Julienne Loreto

In March, P-Pop girl group Baby Dolls released their debut EP ‘ZoomBaby Dolls’ under ABS-CBN Star Music. It hasn’t come up in any press releases, but the septet quietly dropped some of the year’s best rock songs, alongside electronic gems. To be fair, you can’t tell if you only know them from their viral single “Oohh Lala Baby.” The track has the same sugary, harmony-rich sound as MEI MEI’s “Telebong (Hello Po)” and “Alembong”; both girl groups brand themselves as novelty acts, though these songs in particular are heavily indebted to 1960s girl groups like The Marvelettes more than anything.

Although it’s fun to sing along to “Oohh Lala Baby,” the other tracks are more interesting. ‘ZoomBaby Dolls’ opens with “Clap Clap Clap Alright,” a delectable slice of electro-rock containing metal guitar riffs and chiptunes. A weak, twee topline, however, works against the killer production. Fortunately, the next song gets both the vocals and instrumentation right. “Ikembot Mo,” the EP’s first (and in a perfect world, biggest) single, is a mainstream pop act’s most faithful homage to surf rock in the 21st century so far. While the likes of Lana Del Rey (“The Greatest”) and Fall Out Boy (“Uma Thurman”) have incorporated surf elements in a few songs, none have committed to those twangy guitars and Beach Boys-style harmonies quite as much as the delightful “Ikembot Mo.” Instead of relying on its trendy house influences, “Kitang Kita” also keeps things exciting with hard electropop beats.

The closing track “Dulce Tirah Tirah” is a truly transformative take on Blanktape and Diorap’s 2007 song of the same name. The original was a feeble dance tune bogged down by its languid pace and shoddy audio engineering. With a much faster tempo and big, abrasive bass and synths, Baby Dolls’ cover comes closer to “hyperpop” than most of the drab songs that get marketed with the buzzword these days. In their hands, “Dulce” becomes a punk-inflected electroclash banger reminiscent of 3OH!3’s obnoxious but irresistible heyday hits.

Only time can tell if the campy, colorful group will continue such thrilling genre excursions in future releases, or if the popularity of “Oohh Lala Baby” will steer them firmly towards that soft and sweet doo-wop-ish sound. Nonetheless, with ‘ZoomBaby Dolls,’ producers Chris Martinez and Rox Santos have created one of the most sonically adventurous debut records in P-Pop history. Beyond the virality and chart success, it’s another massive accomplishment for Baby Dolls, who are certainly ones to watch.

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September 9, 2026
ALBUM REVIEW: Hermano Jazz – Hermano Jazz, Vol. 1

Written by Lex Celera

If you’re having a hankering of jazz, Hermano Jazz’s newest release can slake your hunger. Emanating from the dimly lit rooms of Tago Jazz Cafe, Sari Sari, and The Backdoor, Hermano Jazz, calls into mind the ever-present yet elusive jazz scene in Metro Manila. Producer, composer, and guitarist Joaquin Reyes knows this well, as a burgeoning musician who frequents these spaces. And it seems that this year, Reyes and his merry band of talented, rotating, cohorts are in full swing.

Reyes’ first album, ‘Show Me Your Kung Fu,’ featuring jazz legends and up-and-coming musicians alike, was just released last May. ‘Hermano Jazz, Vol. 1’ arrived a month after, featuring the same formula albeit with a different ensemble, resulting in a flavor of jazz that satiates those with the ear to recall influences, but also the posturing that could draw anyone curious to experience what the genre has to offer for the first time.

Each track from ‘Hermano Jazz, Vol. 1’ comes across as successful problem solving through music, where instruments pass the baton, come and go, and interject each other with restraint, until the rising tension is resolved. As composers, MJ Alvarado and Joaquin Reyes do well when knowing when a track is done, and when nothing is left unpolished.

“Sa Dilim ng Gabi” and “Stay Cool” feature vocals that, beyond texture, add dimension to the collective’s repertoire. But the real draw lies in the rest of the project’s tracks, where there are moments that truly stick with you when experiencing this album for the first time. The closing third of “Rain Song” pulls you in with its rising intensity shared between the instruments in play, especially with the guitar. “Our New Song” and its meandering flourishes arrests you in its warmth that swells. I would have loved to be in the room during the recordings of “In Walked Blud,” a hot flash of a Thelonious Monk track that Reyes and his hermanos have put their own spin to. In many ways, the cover track exemplifies Hermano Jazz’s latent tendencies to be urgent and overdriven with its shortened runtime.

‘Hermano Jazz, Vol. 1’ offers a buffet of jazz tunes that lean into the genre’s freewheeling nature, served in doses that are just enough. A morsel more would be too much. Perhaps another album. Perhaps more.

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September 9, 2026
EP REVIEW: ila – Hardinera

Written by Adrian Jade Francisco

There is a distinct spell being cast across the local soundscape right now. Over the past few years, the rise of “Fae” and “Fantasy Folk” has been marked by acoustic instrumentation, organic production, pastoral imagery, intimate vocal performances, whimsical storytelling, and a quiet yearning to retreat from the relentless pace of modern life. Carving out her own serene corner of this contemporary folk movement is Ila. Her debut project, ‘Hardinera,’ is a six-track exploration of tranquility through gardening imagery and warm, pastoral compositions.

Through simple yet evocative songwriting, Ila uses recurring images of nature to mirror the EP’s emotional journey, revealing a remarkable gift for narrative depth, vulnerability, and cohesive thematic storytelling. Despite its concise 22-minute runtime, ‘Hardinera’ feels complete, allowing its central ideas to bloom with confidence.

The ethereal centerpiece “Hardin” tackles grief and loss, accompanied by airy textures and delicate string arrangements that make it feel as though you are in solitude. Its stripped-back instrumentation carries over into “Sayaw,” where shimmering keys accompany vocals layered with breathy reverb and subtle delay. The EP’s whimsical spirit reaches its peak in “Hinahon,” featuring Natun. Its poetic Tagalog storytelling feels like the bittersweet climax of a film, with sparse acoustic textures blooming into gentle emotional catharsis.

Like a well-tended garden, ‘Hardinera’ is a testament to Ila’s thoughtful creative choices, cultivating an experience as restorative as it is intimate. Long after its final note fades, the seeds it plants continue to take root in the listener.

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September 9, 2026
ALBUM REVIEW: VVINK – It Starts With A Wink

Written by Paolo Elwick

P-pop is currently enjoying a much-deserved moment in the mainstream spotlight thanks to the nation’s girl group BINI and pioneers SB19. While mostly positive, the increased levels of attention give the new generation of groups a different, much more nuanced, challenge to face: standing out in a scene that’s no longer just fighting for a seat at the table, but one competing to keep it. After a steady stream of singles released over the past year, five-member group VVINK is ready to step up to the plate with ‘It Starts With A Wink,’ a versatile debut album filled with personality and Filipino charm.

Built around the idea of a wink as a silent gesture of connection, the album’s foundation is approachable and relatable storytelling — something that the initial set of singles leading up to its release support. Whether it’s the lovestruck “Tulala,” the earnest anxiety of wanting someone to confess their love on “Kailan Ka Aamin,” or the hopeful, Aladdin-inspired “Tatlong Hiling,” VVINK leans into everyday emotions and experiences, making the album easy to relate to and even easier to sing along with.

That familiarity extends to the production, where VVINK builds their identity by proudly embracing Filipino sounds and reshaping them into something that’s their own. “Baduy,” their DJ Love-produced rendition of budots, shines the brightest by proudly embracing a genre that’s turned into a meme and often overlooked by mainstream pop while simultaneously reclaiming baduy as a badge of confidence. On the opposite end of the spectrum, “Ikaw Ikaw” takes a page out of emotional Filipino ballads with a relatively stripped-down instrumental, allowing tender and heartfelt lines like “Sa oras ng lungkot, ika’y yakap / Sa mga luha, may pag-asa / Sa’yong mga kamay / Pag-ibig ay damang dama” to pay tribute to loved ones who have supported them throughout the years. Then there’s “It’s a Rap,” a high-energy track that serves swagger through anthemic verses that flex the group’s achievements while remaining cognizant of the journey ahead. Together, these songs show a group that’s not simply borrowing from Filipino sounds, but confidently making them part of their own musical identity.

This versatility makes it all the more frustrating when the group’s songwriting settles for easy, formulaic writing. For example, the undeniably infectious and alive “Pag-ibig Fun” has a runtime mostly occupied by the repeating “fun, fun, fun, fun” and “one, one, one, one” refrains. While intentionally designed to be as catchy as possible, the repetition runs thin, leaving the song feeling less clever and not as playful. Unfortunately, similar moments appear elsewhere, where memorable production sometimes has to carry lyrics that can’t always keep up.

Still, ‘It Starts With A Wink’ succeeds because Angelika, Ayaka, Jean, Mariel, and Odri bring enough chemistry, charisma, and youthful energy to make the album feel unmistakably theirs. That’s what makes this debut so exciting. In a P-pop scene growing faster than ever, technical polish alone won’t separate one group from the other — but personality will. Luckily, VVINK seems to have lots of that already. So don’t blink; they’re only getting started.

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August 5, 2026
ALBUM REVIEW: SHNTI — Melting PT.

Written by Noelle Alarcon

SHNTI is one of the local hiphop scene’s darlings; coming from Quezon City, her verses and bars are as explosive as the busy landscape of the metropolis she resides in. With her bright orange hair, this era and cover artwork are equally as striking; her debut album ‘Melting PT.’ is purely her; loud as firecrackers and as unapologetically radiant as the sparks that follow right after.

Though SHNTI mainly rose to prominence through chill, laid-back pronouncements over lo-fi beats, ‘Melting PT.’ shows a whole other side to her artistry. Infusing her raps with the clever daringness of other genres like breakcore and dance pop. This debut album starts off hot and continuously heats up until the very last track, setting ablaze to a more sonically adventurous path in her journey as an artist.

Bass-boosted opener “Heartless” establishes the playful yet self-assuredly brash vibe that prevails throughout the album. The thumping, bass-boosted instrumental is fired up, a bouncy medium for SHNTI to serve a steaming hot plate of righteousness: “your father raised a dirty son / what more have you really done/keep getting older/your victims not over twenty-one.” The choruses even descend into breakbeats, centering on the rage that funnels through the song.

‘Melting PT.’ also displays SHNTI’s knack for making magic out of collaborations; this album features Pette Shabu on “DND” and FEIFEI on “My Girls.” Both tracks play to the strengths of their collaborators: the quickfire, hard-hitting lines of the former (“tanginang mukha ‘yan / kailangan din ng beat switch”), and the chill, smooth vocals that grace the latter.

SHNTI continues to present this rage in multifaceted ways across tracks. This is heard in the rap metal anthem of determination that is “BREAK” and the breakcore-influenced “not(shygirl),” where the artist huffs and puffs about taking up space and staying true up to the very end. Hidden in between the breaks and plugins are the rhymes that paint the conflict of SHNTI versus the world, and how she continues to stay 100% authentic despite the hurdles that come her way.

There is quiet, vulnerable simmering that lies beneath all the fierceness of ‘Melting PT.,’ too. In contrast to the blaring synths that crowd “OMO,” there is self-reflection that takes a great deal of maturity to admit; “kung ako ay iibigin/ayoko sana na maubos ka,” sings SHNTI. Closer’s “melting point” encapsulates the struggle of growing up under the public eye in a manner that is truly heartfelt, committing her to growth. “I will unlearn my shame/and it’s all for love.”

This album’s momentum starts off fast and heavy, but somewhere in the middle, it seems to be indecisive about whether it wants to accelerate further or slow down to accommodate the inhibitions that bring its explosiveness to light. Every once in a while, a couple of songs are contingent upon similar sonic patterns that can be hard to differentiate, at times, as heard in “(not)shygirl” and “timebomb.”

But despite such remarks, ‘Melting PT.’ is a phenomenal debut. It may be miles away from the SHNTI sound that everyone was hooked on in the beginning, but this is her flame-embossed mark on the world: an unexpected, yet creatively authentic shift of sound. ‘Melting PT.’ shows SHNTI is not finished exploring the tricks up her sleeve—she’s just getting started.

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August 5, 2026
ALBUM REVIEW: Jimmy Khalo – GOLDILOCKS

READ THE FULL REVIEW IN THE TFL WEBSITE RIGHT HERE:

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Written by Noelle Alarcon

With an album cover that pays homage to Johannes Vermeer’s ‘The Milkmaid,’ Jimmy Khalo’s debut album ‘GOLDILOCKS’ is a clear example of what happens when self-expression is unapologetic and undeniably at the forefront.

According to the artist themself, it’s “the soundtrack of our 20s, [and] a love letter to our 30s and beyond.” The 11-track release is laden with influences from the soundscapes of Khalo’s youth, inspired by the pop records of the time, like Lady Gaga’s ‘Born This Way’ and Beyoncé’s ‘I AM…SASHA FIERCE.’ There’s the sensual appeal of contemporary R&B, mixed with the groovy invitation to the dancefloor by afrobeats influences, and funky, consistent basslines paired with harmonies that build upon the excitement of anticipation. Produced independently, ‘GOLDILOCKS’ is a testament to what dedication to a vision can bring to life.

Sonically, Khalo’s music shines best when it references the past that conjured this project altogether: dreamy synths and brash 808s make a bold statement that shows their daringness to explore the limits of sound. This is heard in standout track “NYMPH,” where the vocals are hard-hitting and anthemic, singing of the artist’s determination and inability to be tamed.

There’s a quality of honesty embedded in every lyric Khalo writes, and these steal the show, flashy, uptempo beats aside. In “AMUSE YOU,” they’re singing about intimacy and a good time in bed on a house beat. On “RAIN,” the artist sounds unstoppable in finding themselves in the complicated journey that is life. From the lightness of “I’ll send you to heaven and seal with a kiss” to the strength and resolve in “I’m wiser than my years, still, I trip with my own toes,” it’s admirable to observe the honesty that oozes through these tracks.

It is exciting to see the many sounds that the artist can stick with while still maintaining the central theme of ‘GOLDILOCKS,’ but at the same time, there’s a sense of disconnect that can be found every so often throughout the album. It’s a set of songs knotted altogether, but quite roughly. In its quest to look for the self, it sounds like the rope that it casts far and wide tends to fray at times.

The intensive look into cohesiveness aside, Jimmy Khalo’s debut album is a promising look into what charisma and belief in oneself can bring to the table. It’s a product of someone who was raised by pop hit after pop hit, delivering a manifestation that the reality of adulthood helped to shape.

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August 5, 2026