Category: TRACKS

  • TRACK REVIEW: OONA. – DARAMA

    TRACK REVIEW: OONA. – DARAMA

    Written by Louis Pelingen

    Throughout the 2020s, the P-Pop space has continued to craft more talent worth seeking, especially across the girl groups that have their names established in their own way. Bini, VVINK, and Kaia are big examples of this, as they bring a different sonic presentation that reflects upon their identity as a group. This becomes a statement that OONA. – a newfound girl group consisting of experienced dancers and idols – is working through, all reflected upon their debut single, “DARAMA”.

    Right from the jump, OONA showcases a unique flair in their performances that immediately makes them stand out, as there’s a distinctive tone to each member’s voice, allowing their group dynamic to land with charm while not taking away their individual personalities. 

    OONA’s sweet presence on the microphone is also helped out by Neil “NJ” Subong and Eiron “pxyche” Reyes – the same people who produced for acts like Hev Abi, E-Kove, and Zae – providing an approachable beat with enough glossy keys and synths to add to OONA’s exploration of their feelings towards someone they like. Acknowledging this fluttery feeling of love, but they’re rather unsure of how to deal with it.

    The overall concept of exploring one’s feelings is quite inspired for OONA’s debut track, because as much as their hearts are fully exposed in this introductory song, they are still navigating their approach as vocalists and performers in their own right. There might be flubs in their delivery, but it paradoxically works nonetheless. After all, exploring one’s feelings takes quite a while to settle in, and for OONA, they’ll definitely figure things out in the long run.

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  • TRACK REVIEW: School Girl Classic – Tomorrow

    TRACK REVIEW: School Girl Classic – Tomorrow

    Written by Paolo Elwick

    Tomorrow usually doesn’t take long to arrive, but for fans of Cebu-based indie rock band School Girl Classic, it took six years before “Tomorrow.”

    During this period, the band’s members went their separate ways: one moved hundreds of kilometers away, another now plays for multiple other bands, and one is balancing a career in design while still making music. But as each carved out their own path, the future of School Girl Classic turned uncertain. And yet, even as the band drifted apart, the voice at the center of their music still stayed the same—Hana, the fictional schoolgirl through whose eyes their stories have always been told. She has always been the band’s narrator and mirror, a medium to communicate the relatable uncertainty that comes with growing up. In many ways, her story feels inseparable from the band’s own, making their return with “Tomorrow” not just about picking up where they left off, but about revisiting a character who, like them, has had plenty of time to change.

    Their growth is given the opportunity to shine through the single’s lyricism. On the one hand, it reads like a conversation with an old friend, full of updates, questions, and reminders. But on the other, it builds a harmonic mantra through tasteful repetition. Together, these give the song a friendly and approachable sense of familiarity that perfectly matches the instrumental’s various emotional ebbs and flows. And with a laidback drum loop as the steady foundation, the strings are given ample space to shine with riffs that build rhythm, and licks that emphasize and stress like sonic punctuation marks. 

    But “Tomorrow” isn’t just about growth; it’s also the band’s honest thoughts on time, waiting, and coming back—letting listeners know through Hana that the years in between their releases don’t just feel like gaps that they’re rushing to fill. The band chooses to acknowledge the distance, the change, and the uncertainty that have shaped who they are now.

    In the end, School Girl Classic’s “Tomorrow” is a reminder that coming back doesn’t mean returning to the exact same place. Things have shifted, people have grown, and even Hana, the fictional schoolgirl, now speaks with a little more clarity and intention. Waiting, then, becomes part of the story rather than something separate from it. With that in mind, “Tomorrow” feels less like a comeback and more like a continuation—just one that took its time to arrive.

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  • TRACK REVIEW: Training Wheels – simple socks

    TRACK REVIEW: Training Wheels – simple socks

    Written by Julia Harumi Kudo

    “Training Wheels” begins with the clicking sound of a bicycle’s freewheel. The song pedals a new echelon for Iggy San Pablo, the Toronto-based Filipino musician and Rusty Machines frontman, now recording under the name simple socks. Before the instruments break away in the track, there’s a nervy tick of motion without propulsion, that even after your body has stopped pedaling, your motor memory is still trying to justify itself. A siren shrills within earshot, then someone honks as the voices blur, but the city continues to move, ignoring them all. Then the guitar interrupts the street’s noise, sharp and precise with a crisp rhythm, while the drums stall like an engine refusing to start; every sound seems to hesitate between movement and paralysis. And simple socks’ singing is restrained, as though driven by survival instinct, like the voice of someone desperately and politely trying to suppress their emotions so as not to explode in public. 

    What makes “Training Wheels” so compelling lyrically is how it consistently frames migration as this never-ending process. Iggy San Pablo writes about distance without romanticizing sacrifice this time. “It’s a long distance away/Still call you anyway” conjures a forlorn intimacy with phone calls from overseas during different time zones. One person is wide awake, while the other is fast asleep on the opposite shore. As the song reaches its midpoint, it becomes clearer that the very essence of conviction is slowly coming into focus, culminating in the lyrics, “The pavement’s rough, but I know I need to move along.” He repeats the phrase “I need to move along,” but it no longer sounds like a source of motivation; rather than an affirmation, it starts to sound compulsory, a survival strategy.

    But there is irony at play in all of this. Expressing the alienation of immigrants through English, a language inherited and symbolizing both hope and the scars of colonial rule, is already analogous to surrendering a part of oneself to translation. The memories of diaspora are rarely passed down in their entirety. “Training Wheels” lives precisely within this contradiction. To live between two countries means not fully belonging to either, caught between the homeland from which one grew up and left and the hostland that still treats you as provisional. However, this song refuses to succumb to self-pity. After the final repetition, what remains is not despair, but momentum. The freewheel clicking at the beginning returns as a metaphor for the momentum sustained by past efforts, even if the direction is uncertain. Iggy San Pablo’s greatest strength as a songwriter lies in his restraint. He never exaggerates his experiences into grandiose political revelations, and this stance remains unchanged. The production stays lean and restless, the guitars don’t smooth out the arrangements but rather create gaps, and the drums are always in danger of completely losing their rhythm. “Training Wheels” remains hopeful precisely because it refuses resolution. Iggy San Pablo does not land on wholeness by the end of the track. He simply keeps pedaling. In lesser hands, that ambiguity might feel unfinished. Here, it feels honest.

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  • TRACK REVIEW: Project Yazz – Ningning

    TRACK REVIEW: Project Yazz – Ningning

    Written by Louis Pelingen

    Ever since 2021, Project Yazz has been best described as a band whose joy in making music comes from freewheeling expression, with varying instrumentalists who play around from time to time. Vocalist Faye Yupano and bassist Burgan Nunez, the mainstays in the project, never stay in a fixed atmosphere, thematic approach, and cast of players, as they are always shifting around with ease. Despite that, one aspect always continues to stay around in their music: warmth. 

    This year, the band steps up in imbuing that warmth in lusher soundscapes. “Haraya” evokes that firsthand, yet the following single, “Ningning”, takes it up a notch. Faye Yupano’s vocals gracefully express a wistful longing under the glinting presence of the stars, a gentle emotion amplified further with supple arrangements with crisp grooves and gleaming brass swells that continue to gradually ramp up.

    However, this cascade of potent ideas never reaches its transcendent state, where the production does not fully expose the wells of yearning that Faye Yupano embodies in the song, and the expanded arrangements don’t allow their rich textures to be heard. Instead, it feels distant, constantly on the cusp of reaching a stirring resolution, yet it never truly gets there.

    As it stands, “Ningning” becomes a fascinating growth and challenge for Project Yazz, as they are willing to experiment with their warm tones in grander escapades. Succeeding in placing down this tender desire that’s as simple as it is evocative, yet it doesn’t flourish the way it should. It might result in the song whose resonance becomes wishful thinking under the starry night, yet even then, it sparkles just enough to see how it could have shined brighter. 

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  • TRACK REVIEW: Hijo – Ain’t Got What I Got

    TRACK REVIEW: Hijo – Ain’t Got What I Got

    Written by Paolo Elwick

    After the viral success that is “Sorbet,” DJ and hip-hop artist Hijo continues to prove that he’s more than just your average internet influencer. With club-ready beats, earworm hooks, and playful, sometimes out-of-pocket TikTok videos, Hijo has steadily built a reputation as both a standout performer and a digital personality. Now, he’s back to keep the energy high with another club anthem — this time enlisting rap collective Fresh-iLL Club for the bouncy “Ain’t Got What I Got”.

    Much like his previous release, “Ain’t Got What I Got” is an animated track overflowing with the energy you’d expect from Hijo and his vibrant personality. With an instrumental that blends booming drums, triumphant horns, and dynamic adlibs, it feels like a fresher, funkier tribute to the boom bap style. And much like the emcees who’ve championed boom bap in the past, Hijo is bombastic and in-your-face from the jump, delivering an unapologetic PSA to dance as he proudly proclaims, “If you ain’t shaking ass, get the fuck off the dance floor.” 

    The verses that follow share the same bold bravado as Hijo begins trading bars with the diverse cast of Fresh-iLL Club. While the former feels perfectly at home on the track, some members of the latter lack the energy and presence to survive the beat’s punching onslaught. As a result, the energy of the track can sometimes peak before cratering. The good thing, however, is that it doesn’t take long for the track to get its groove back. Before you realize it, you’re probably already back shaking ass on the dance floor.

    And that’s where “Ain’t Got What I Got” shines — it’s a hypnotic anthem that builds on Hijo’s natural magnetism and presence to create a track that brings funk, energy, and braggadocio to the parties and dance floors of Manila’s lively nightlife. But more than just that, it captures the city’s after-hours pulse by pairing swagger with an infectious bounce that feels impossible to resist. And in the process, Hijo cements his place in the local music scene as an artist who understands exactly how to move a crowd digitally and in real life, by consistently turning his charisma and instinct for high-energy records into tracks that resonate with audiences far beyond algorithms. So if you frequent these spaces, get ready to hit the dance floor because Hijo isn’t waiting for you to stay still.

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  • TRACK REVIEW: Asher – Pollen

    TRACK REVIEW: Asher – Pollen

    Written by Julia Harumi Kudo

    “Pollen,” composed by Asher, Areli, and Juicingjuicy, is a rumination on a song in which they refuse a memory to be simply remembered. Thus, they go and breathe it all over again, even when it stings. The song turns with the slow, circular logic that endings and beginnings are trick mirrors than stages of the same cycle, and where longing for someone, like pollen, is both natural and difficult to resist. Realized on a skeletal chill-hop rhythm and clad with the flexibilities of Neo-Soul, the trio somberly revels inside the Petri dish of modern R&B, with Asher and Areli’s production leaning towards texture rather than structure. With organic patience, the guitar arrives almost unbeknownst, while the synths forage underneath with velvet layers perpetually glued to the mix. And yet, for all its fawning, there’s something vaguely obscured here. The vocals are often fractionally veiled; phrases fade into texture, and you notice yourself feeling the words first before even fully understanding them. It’s a little frustrating to be able to catch the fragments of the yearning spiel enough to know there’s an intention, but not enough to withhold it fully. But when the song chooses to reveal itself—“I need, I need you so”—it does so with a startling clarity that it almost feels sacramental as if that line alone is intentionally meant to survive the haze and the rest belongs to someone else. 

    Drawing from the title alone, “Pollen” alludes to a collapse—fallen, yes, but also feathered, dispersed, made airborne. The word blushes a little and hides inside itself: to fall in love again, to have already fallen apart, and to still be suspended somewhere in between. And just like pollen, the pining in the song acts like a natural phenomenon. Our body resists even as it needs, pure animal instinct. Areli gets back to this contradiction without resolving it: desire shaking hands with dependency, tenderness going up against doom. “I don’t trust the time when you’re not around / I’m fallin’ apart again.” It sounds simple and almost childlike, but such straightforwardness is what allows us to let our human sensibilities feel, and that’s the closest we can get to being nearly transformed. We’d be neither healed nor broken, but airborne.

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  • TRACK REVIEW: rhodessa – nananabik

    TRACK REVIEW: rhodessa – nananabik

    Written by Louis Pelingen

    The streak of rhodessa’s refinement as a musician has only persisted since breaking through in 2023, with “Kisame” allowing her presence to shine in broad daylight. She continues to hone in on the well of OPM pop rock she only delivered with more exciting gusto, with the 2023 track “sa’yong sa’yo lang ako” and her 2024 EP ‘kiss’ becoming the main showcases of her artistic throughlines developing further and further. 

    And with the recent release of “nananabik,” rhodessa continues to stitch her creative growth, sticking to her yearning songwriting formula that may be wearing its welcome, but still delivers the necessary punch in the overall composition. Carving an emphasis on saturated guitar riffs and a stable percussion section that offers enough support to her pleasant vocal delivery. 

    With her overall changes in sound and style well documented over 6 years of consistent single releases, it now poses a challenge for rhodessa moving forward, especially in how she will branch out her songwriting into deeper, more interesting ventures. To yearn on the surface may be fun, but sinking deeper into it may require her to tilt to a different angle, just so that she can fully grasp an emotionally wider experience. 

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  • TRACK REVIEW: JRRD – Thrill

    TRACK REVIEW: JRRD – Thrill

    Written by Louis Pelingen

    Since last year, JRRD has been in a constant process of finding himself in the music that he makes. He started things off with an alternative pop sheen on his debut album, ‘001,’ that might have the queer longing and well-structured melodies out the door, but his production flair is something to be desired. Sounding limitedly thin, dulling his musical capabilities for the most part. But five months after that project, he immediately found his calling through embracing hyperpop and electroclash soundscapes, a range of sonic aesthetics that he explores further through his next few records, such as ‘POP.MP3’ and ‘Yuck!’—piling upon as much enticing flash and passion as he possibly can through their brief runtimes.

    He doesn’t completely stop his tracks, however, as he continues to push himself further in 2026 with an eye for sharpening his craft. Through his second single that he put out this year, ‘Thrill’ displays a level of refinement. JRRD’s affinity for detailed production is better emphasized, allowing their blubbery tones to carry more spark, and his vocal melodies capture the attraction interspersed in the lyrics, centered around being enticed by a romantic thrill that he keeps at a distance, letting that tension feel simultaneously thrilled and wary. It creates a balance of thinking realistically and thinking indulgently, an approach that may ask more questions than answers, but it lets things simmer down before heading off to decide if he should chase that affection.

    While buffing his production does become a double-edged sword – the textures, while flashy, also end up sounding muddy in the mix – JRRD clearly gains more confidence and spark with this song. He carries more strengths that he can further embrace in the future. For now, JRRD languishes in his own thrills, one that’s alluring enough to experience long-term.

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  • TRACK REVIEW: Off to Neverland! – Boombox

    TRACK REVIEW: Off to Neverland! – Boombox

    The saturation of pop rock music feels like it has already reached a familiar endpoint. At this point, you would expect that specific bubble economy of guitar licks and post-Matty Healy vocal inflections to evolve, right? Well, Off to Neverland’s latest single “Boombox” doubles down into that space without pushing the envelope. 

    With flourishing synthesizers, vocal runs, rhythm guitars layered over tight drum patterns, and a guitar solo that oddly sits right before the chorus, the band sticks closely to a formula that’s been circulating since the late 2010s. The track sways confidently within that lane, even if it doesn’t necessarily challenge the methods of pop. Lines like “Come on down / Get the door for me” echo a kind of polished, throwback pogi rock energy that depends heavily on nostalgia to land.

    There’s a lot of promise here, but not much in the way of seeking reinvention. Even the idea of the “boombox” as a central image leans more into a familiar romantic gesture than something reworked for the present. A boombox is eventually rendered useless. Time to drag yourself back in the present.

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  • TRACK REVIEW: ok bouquet – Internet

    TRACK REVIEW: ok bouquet – Internet

    Written by Noelle Alarcon

    ok bouquet is a quartet hailing from Quezon City, proclaiming themselves as “Cubao’s finest pretty bois [sic].” Their debut track, “Internet,” oozes with punchy energy and lighthearted longing that begins to gnaw at the heart if you start to think about it too much. Truly, the three minutes and 54 seconds of their musings are the perfect soundtrack to strolling around Cubao with someone who makes you feel a little too giddy.

    The track is hinged on jangly, power pop-based guitars that are fueled and moved forward by snare-heavy, open-handed drum beats. There’s a post-pandemic, Gen Z lilt to the roughness of late 1990s indie rock it’s emulating that’s been recreated and taken time and time again; ok bouquet show great proficiency in reflecting their influences and their specific flavor. But perhaps this mastery gets a little too on the nose, at times, the track is uncertain whether it will stay in the territory of simulacrum or novelty.

    In the current internet atmosphere that’s laden with references to “manic pixie dream girls” and being mysteriously eccentric at Cubao Expo, it seems like the four-piece managed to capture this exact landscape through sound—whether it be the wisps of cigarette smoke curling into the night or crazy hair colors dotting the horizon. This includes the vulnerability that lies in the core of these performances of identity: “But can I truly fit in your world?” sings their vocalist, Dan Monreal.

    Sure, it’s a one-sided track from the perspective of the boy, and perhaps a bit too self-indulgent at times. However, it is redeemed by the naïveté and hunger for connection that stamp this song with traces of nostalgia. It’s fun, vibrant, and refreshingly cathartic to be dizzied by infatuation this intense. The band has a wider horizon to spread their wings into once they trace their next steps from this point of youthful decadence.

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