Written by Jax Figarola Stepping back from the energetic beats and quicker rhythms of drum n’ bass in Lean Ordinario’s sophomore album ‘Make Noise,’ LONER—his solo project—ventures into new territory with five tracks of mellow techno-trance music in his third album, ‘DROPSTAR.’ This shift in genre reflects the influence of Metro Manila’s underground rave and club culture, which has surged in popularity post-lockdown era. Transitioning from syncopated breakbeats and heavy basslines to faster tempos and ambient synths, LONER charts a new course while maintaining a kinetic pulse that keeps his old fans in the scene engaged. His shift from creating drum n’ bass, which is a genre relatively uncommon in the Philippine electronic music scene, to a more conventional blend of house and trance might initially seem like a move towards the familiar. Yet, ‘DROPSTAR’ defies expectations, proving to be anything but ordinary. While it might lack the novelty of his earlier work, it certainly rises above mediocrity. LONER still embraces the fast tempos characteristic of his previous releases, but this time, with a spirit of experimentation. He incorporated elements of house music, crafting seamless, repetitive melodic pounding of kicks and hi-hats against rich ambient synths, creating beautiful instrumental interludes. Furthermore, his charismatic and resounding vocals, especially on tracks like ‘Stop Playing’ and ‘Don’t Wanna,’ fit well in the project’s theme of noncommittal love and situationships. His voice feels like an invitation to an intimate, late-night dance—just you and LONER, lost in the rhythm, filled with moxie and mutual infatuation. The serene four-on-the-floor drum patterns where his vocals are absent offer a refreshing change of scenery. Beginning with the pre-game energy of ‘Stop Playing’ and building up to the dreamy crescendo of ‘Figure It Out,’ the album evokes a hypnagogic state on the dance floor. Each track during its instrumental passages offers a corrosive and psychedelic moment, transporting the listener to another world. My personal world was under the mushrooms in a forest, where I danced with Pinoy gnomes to a storm of spores. Despite the project’s brevity, clocking in at just under 15 minutes, ‘DROPSTAR’ quickly becomes an earworm especially after repeated listens. Each track, while distinct, contributes to a cohesive whole art piece. The ambient synths that dominate when vocals are absent beautifully complement LONER’s voice when it reappears, peaking the dance experience in standouts like ‘Bahala Ka Na’ and ‘Figure It Out.’ Despite the seemingly minimal production typical of trance, the production in ‘DROPSTAR’ is anything but minimal—it’s a profoundly sublime art piece in its entirety. With his amazing past releases and this new project, LONER’s contributions to the Philippine electronic music scene truly deserve applause. SUPPORT THE ART & THE ARTIST:
REVIEWS
EP REVIEW: Yaelokre – Hayfield
Written by JK Caray Keath Osk, more known by their stage name Yaelokre, has captured the attention of the Medieval fantasy-loving, Renaissance Faire attending part of the online community—garnering millions of streams, likes, and even a fandom of their own. An all-around storyteller, weaving stories through music, art, and performances, the artist first showed promise through their single “Harpy Hare”. After a few months, Yaelokre follows up with their debut album “Hayfield,” the prologue to their ongoing musical centered around the world of “Meadowlark”. Depicted with gorgeous art and a strong stylistic direction, it’s clear that “Hayfields” is part of the love project that Keath Osk has been brewing for years. However, it is still the kind of art that can be hard for some people to digest due to its perceived peculiarity. As for the music itself, “Hayfields” is a tight and cohesive concept EP, with influences that range from The Oh Hellos to AURORA. Although it suffers slightly from its unpolished production, the picturesque storytelling paired with the eloquent almost Nordic style of singing proves effective at showing the points across. “Hartebeest” for one sets a thrilling introduction, hyping up the entire album aside from its cryptic lyrics. In it, the scene is vivid: it feels like running in a mystical forest that promises one-of-a-kind adventures. “Harpy Hare”, the more known single, is a catchy stomp-and-holler song about an overprotective mother told through interesting symbolisms and metaphors. The track carries the energy that Hartebeest starts with and adds more to it; Yaelokre’s headstrong voice being the center of the song, every word pristine. In “And the Hound”, the blistering tempo mellows down as it goes to a more ballad approach, featuring the most moving and most powerful vocal performances of the entire EP. Here, Yaelokre boasts their prowess in songwriting, the lyrics being equal parts morbid and captivating. The closing song “Neath the grove is a heart” starts with gentle flutes and builds up the song along the way. Compared to the other songs, the song is much lighter yet still as grandiose. Warmth is felt across the beating of its drums and the harmonious vocals in the end, innocent and magical. It is an enchanting ending that calls back to the start of the EP as it includes leitmotifs of “Harpy Hare”, and “Hartebeest”, further hammering the feeling of going home. By now it’s obvious that this kind of project does not mix well with some, but Yaelokre’s instant rise to success may have exemplified the amount of naysayers. Scrolling through the comment section of some of their posts, a horde of people express their disapproval of the concept calling it “cringe.” While the question of it being cringeworthy is subjective and varies from person to person, is it bad to just have whimsical fun? “Meadowlark” as a whole is a world built on childlike wonder, a time where judgment was not yet commonplace—would it hurt for us to revisit what it felt like back then? Sure, Hayfields and the rest of Yaelokre’s works may not be for everyone, but when it does hit, it hits you hard. Support the art & the artist:
TRACK REVIEW: Darren Cashwell – NUMBER ONE
Written by Elijah P. Pop duo Darren Cashwell has a colorful history, from creating remixes on the fly with top EDM DJs before the pandemic to transitioning into gentler, chorus-driven guitar pop, and finally crafting cool-guy pop music with “NUMBER ONE.” Ironically, much of that “color” in their music now feels somewhat dated, given the oversaturation of pop from the 2016-2019 era. For a track that aims to capture the feeling of love and being “wanted,” it ends up sounding one-dimensional and lacking the charisma needed to make a strong impact. The guitars and drums are standard pop-rock fare, and the rap-influenced style of the duo follows a familiar blueprint. This may be the effect of a major studio standard: evident in songwriting style and a lot of imagery that’s tailor made to look safe and barely reaching any newer ground. Their background of being music producers in the past still seeps through, coming full circle all the while being not sticking. This formula makes “NUMBER ONE” feel somewhat predictable, especially considering the duo’s seemingly contrasting styles. Neither member stands out distinctly, and their chemistry seems to be missing. The chorus, unfortunately, doesn’t quite stick with the listener. Star Music Philippines appears to have a tendency to feature artists who, like their roster, can come across as somewhat generic. SUPPORT THE ART & THE ARTIST:
TRACK REVIEW: Shan Capri – Past Flight
Written by Aly Maaño You may not know it yet, but Shan Capri might just be your next favorite alt/pop artist. Despite being new in the music scene, this artist isn’t afraid to push sonic boundaries by producing songs that reflect her eclectic taste. With her new single “PAST FLIGHT,” Shan lets us feel the rush and exhilarating feeling of meeting someone—an instant connection, a tender but fleeting desire. Drifting away from her soulful sound, Shan takes a deliberate turn to produce catchy hooks and melodies with a rich, flirtatious bass woven into her dreamy, sensual vocals. “PAST FLIGHT” begins like a summer adventure with its zappy riffs gearing into a playful chorus with an intimate delivery. It’s intuitive in its attempt to be soft but also impulsive. The song possesses a certain tenderness and vulnerability but is also effortless in being sexy. It’s short like most pop songs but just as it ends, you’ll want to impulsively hit play again. Support the art & the artist:
TRACK REVIEW: Liminal by Ruru
Written by Faye Allego Picture this: You’re twelve years old, your parents run an internet cafe down the street and you borrow your Kuya’s PSP 3000 to play The Sims 2. Your best friends come by to play the bartender game on Y8.com while Kuya is on an extreme DOTA battle. You’re not too keen on the fact that it’s the first day of school when you wake up but at least you’re having the time of your life now and who knows, maybe your mom might pack you Yan Yans or an extra bottle of Yakult for lunch tomorrow. You didn’t think of it then, but amidst all of the popular mid-aughts games, excitements, and leisures, “no one knows where they’re really going.” That lyric from Ruru’s new single titled “Liminal” transcends me into this portal of, well, liminal spaces. Spaces I had never thought would be so empty, yet full of life in retrospect. The song is upbeat, it does not contain the subtle mood of tragedy commonly heard in wistful chord progressions and melodies, however, the lyrics say otherwise. The song’s lyrics as well as perhaps the lack of strings, share key elements seen in the Hauntology genre; in the sense that something “lost” from the song’s features is haunting. Aside from channeling how the song feels sonically, this song looked like a kaleidoscope of every single one of those dreamcore, corecore, weirdcore, and vaporwave aesthetics I’ve seen across social media. Any lyric can be used to caption a liminal space photograph and evoke the feelings of longing for something you didn’t realize you’ll never get back as an everyday, mundane feeling. The worst part is that “something” can be everything from the past. In Ruru’s words, “We’re just way too in our heads/ Passing on acquaintances/ Some days I’m not quite myself / Yet I’m on my bed…” Liminal is also one of those unique tracks where you don’t need to actually feel a certain emotion when listening to it despite the existentialist lyrics. It’s a song that could pass as an Animal Crossing tune on a Nintendo DS. It can be your go-to shower song, or the absolute final song you choose to go on your Instagram story when posting to a monthly wrap-up collage template. I’d love to hear this track be a part of an album that explores the genre of Hauntology or even avant-garde electronic music that we don’t typically see in OPM. Additionally, the cover art for this track could pass for an album cover itself! It looks like Ruru’s self-portrait is taken from a driver’s license, exemplifying adulthood or the oversaturation that can suggest the technicolor that life brings in the mundane. Or maybe she just looks really good and so does her music. That’s what I think. Cheers to more Ruru! Support the art & the artist:
TRACK REVIEW: Fern. – SO FLY
Written by Louis Pelingen It seems as Fern. is now working towards his next solo project for the foreseeable future, with him steadily putting out songs that now linger within 2000s R&B that he fawned over, showcased through both the art direction and the music itself as there has been more intrigue towards the 2000s nostalgia more than ever before. But out of the three songs that he has put out thus far for this upcoming project, “SO FLY” is the one that struck the most within his delve towards this 2000s R&B flair. From the chalky drums, glittery synths, and warbling bass that carry a composed, pristine melody, Fern’s vocal touches ooze with so much charm and wonder that he manages to stick the landing towards creating a sense of inviting allure, something that his vocal flair alongside the abundance of harmonies and melodies able to encapture marvelously. Despite the drum textures sound a bit flimsy, this song’s melodic spark is remarkable from front to back. With every single listen, it never fails to fly high to something ever so spectacular. Support the art & the artist:
TRACK REVIEW: DIONELA ft. Jay R – SINING
Written by Elijah P. After almost hitting every note and scoring every possible R&B collaboration known locally, Bulacan-based pop singer-songwriter Dionela has finally hit the algorithm goldmine in streaming with their collaborative hit “Sining” alongside R&B royalty Jay R. Not too long ago, the same mainstream artist and respected industry titan passed down the “crown” to the young neophyte on live television. Dionela humbly turned down the offer by returning the symbolic crown to Jay R in the same segment. Looking back at that moment symbolizes a lot about Dionela’s output: clunky, laughable, and an overall striver that fails to follow up the greatness of any industry singer-songwriter from decades before. Despite numerous attempts to hit the sweet spot in choruses, the “all my life” line is more laughable than sticky in the sensual listening experience. “Sining” is as grating as sprinkling rotten cheese on a bad serving. The awkward use of Tagalog in the verses and choruses feels forced, much like the strained high notes. Meanwhile, the unbearable lows don’t cover up the shortcomings of Nelly’s Tagalog counterpart. When Dionela tries, they try hard, just like the chorus they’ve written. Jay R, on the other hand, turns the track around. However, when an industry veteran tries to steal the spotlight rather than complement the feature, something unequivocally goes wrong in the execution of the track. “Sining” neither looks nor sounds sexy; it’s a track that begs to make sense. Like a ribcage rumbling from the notes of a xylophone while rupturing longing feelings. Did that passage make sense? Not really, and neither does “You’ve turned my limbics into a bouquet” when your prefrontal cortex is fully developed. Support the art & the artist:
TRACK REVIEW: Cherry Society – Recluse
Written by Aly Maaño It’s 2009 again. I’m wearing an Artwork shirt, a plaid tennis skirt, and my favorite pair of black Chucks with rainbow-colored laces for a meet-up with my date at the local park. He would teach me how to skate for the first time, and I would let him read the pretentious poems in my journal. After a few weeks, we would stop seeing each other. I would never learn how to skate. This is how Cherry Society’s “Recluse” opened this long-forgotten time capsule in my brain. As an elder emo, I easily resonated with this song as it perfectly encapsulates an era when all the bands headlining When We Were Young were being blasted off from a Nokia Xpressmusic (if you still had one) or one of those early Samsung smartphones. Think of female-led bands like Paramore, Hey Monday, We Are the in Crowd, Tonight Alive, or Courage My Love. Sonically, “Recluse” draws influence from new wave, pop-punk bands from the posthumously coined “Defend Pop Punk” era like Neck Deep, The Wonder Years, Knuckle Puck, etc. With its cutting guitar riffs, thick, jangly bass tones, and energetic tempos, it could easily be the soundtrack for an angsty Y2K movie or the background music of an amateur skate video. Kuki’s strong, raw vocals balance clarity with a punch, evoking lyrics with adolescent themes involving relationships and heartbreak. Although some elements could still be polished, Kuki, Miya, Kat, and Lisha were successful in crafting their signature sound straight from Cherry Land—the kind you’ll dance and sing along to in your room or mosh to with your friends at the pit. If “Recluse” was released in the 2000s, I wouldn’t mind getting malware from illegally downloading it on Limewire just to listen to it on repeat. Support the art & the artist:
TRACK REVIEW: Shanni – 19
The second single from neophyte soft pop singer-songwriter Shanni is more enchanting than their debut by a lot. Venturing into dreamier soundscapes rather than city pop beginnings, Shanni’s “19” commands a slightly more consistent and somber approach to their tender sensibilities in pop songwriting. Shanni sings over the gentle compositions as if skiing on a mountain: It’s breezier than it sounds, and with its execution landing more consistently compared to “Sa Panaginip,” “19” feels like an ode to the influences worn on their sleeves. Call it derivative of Men I Trust or Faye Webster all you like, but Shanni is carving out their own lane in songwriting. It’s not theirs to claim just yet, but “19” serves as a proper stepping stone for the young pop star as they emerge from their creative shell. Support the art & the artist:
ALBUM REVIEW: Fax Gang + Parannoul – Scattersun
Written by Louis Pelingen When reaching a sense of stability, there is no doubt that it’s sometimes a fleeting moment, a feeling that provides meditation and strength just before everybody has to push forward to the next phase of tension in their lives. On the last projects that Fax Gang and Parannoul have put out, this does ring true as they take a lot more effort to embrace the sense of the calm before the storm: Fax Gang offers more openly brighter melodies and textures on Dataprism and Parannoul moving away from the aghast distorted perks of his debut as he takes more dreamy wistfulness on After The Magic. So now that they’re both under Topshelf Records, the possibility of working once again since their collaboration on the last track of Dataprism feels like a star that can be reached, where the light keeps on burning brightly. And it sure does, as on Scattersun, Fax Gang and Parannoul merge their varying worlds in absolute delight. Within this project, Fax Gang and Parannoul’s musical chemistry bounces off in a way that resonates with their strengths as they leap off into various characteristics that morph into their own being – all filled with post-rock crescendos, eclectic sound design, distinctive production palette, and amorphous genre swervings that Fax Gang and Parannoul just makes it all work. Riding these risky musical ideas that both acts are willing to do, and create an exciting endeavor where those risks are rewarded tremendously, intersecting their creative worlds where they know which parts of their ideas will work and proceed to experiment even further outside of their comfort zone that also manages to stick the landing in a remarkable fashion. ‘Double Bind’ showcases this toast of ideas clearly, with the first half lurking within the familiar bit-crushed soundscape from Fax Gang with PK Shellboy’s vocals rummaging through that chaos, just before it slowly and sleekly transitions to the usual fractured distortion from Parannoul’s part on the back half that also has a jersey club rhythm implemented within, displaying familiar pieces of sound that work around with newer facets of experimentation. This experimentation continues further all across the project, from ‘Quiet’ where PK Shellboy joins within the crisp and bulky alt-rock palette that’s clearly Parannoul’s signature wheelhouse but is wrapped around with warping synths, ‘Lullaby for a Memory’ with the jaunty array of rapid organic breakbeats, wistful synth progressions, and galloping crescendos that spearthrows itself into the skies, ‘Wrong Signal’ where the warbling production creates a cacophonous black hole for Mudd the student of Balming Tiger and PK Shellboy to break through with anxious performances just before the production clears up into a danceable but still suffocating beat, ‘Circular Motion’ takes a mellower tone where both PK Shellboy and Parannoul’s vocals are cushioned within the spare lilting synths and chalky percussion that eventually collapses into a charged EDM instrumental passage that bolts to the end of the song, and ‘Soliloquy’ may as well be the absolute charming cut from album – filled with glorious melodic progressions that can fit into a rhythm game song selection as the sweeping drums and synths glimmer before it cracks and dishevels as it moves along, even adding a random jazz sample that swivels into the cut’s last ecstatic chorus. And even despite ‘Ascension’ and ‘Scattersun’ paling off for different reasons – with the first song that could’ve expanded upon its harmonies and the second song that could’ve sharpened parts of its transitions and melodies, they still manage to land with aplomb as the former cut’s fleeting calmness creaks from its fuzzy textures that never overshadow the performances of every vocalist – gatka’s soothing vocals especially – and the latter cut’s attempt on creating a 10-minute plugging, cloud rap, and drill epic is nothing short of impressive in just going along on that idea and just making it happen. This overall scale is also reinforced within the writing of the record, taking a grand leap as Fax Gang and Parannoul return back into exploring humanistic existential dread that they find themselves lurking within, all with an embrace of abstract metaphors that expound the exhausting emotions even more. There is a desperation to cling to the brighter future that they try to reach as much as possible even despite all the murk that keeps on piling up more and more each day, intensifying the anxious dread that they want to avoid for their sake. Yet it is an attempt of avoidance that they cannot do successfully anymore, especially with the doomed tone displayed on cuts like ‘Wrong Signal’ where internet doom-scrolling will continue to display the destructive parts of reality that they can’t risk to not care about anymore. Thus, it overall colors the bleak aspects within these deeper reflections, whether that be having to mature and moving past their inner child on ‘Lullaby for a Memory’, reaching out to friends and trying to help them out even if they themselves are dealing with their own struggles on ‘Ascension’, and just how accepting a defeatist mindset due to the constant effects of isolation, aging, and ennui in this devastating world soon collapses upon ‘Scattersun’, the darkest cut in the album as there is a realization where the process of reflecting through these harrowing moments don’t seem to make sense anymore and is easier to just find some release in self-harm – a dour thought that’s compounded from the continuous wallowing that pushes everybody else away, and leaves them struggling with not knowing who they are anymore. Eventually concluding on the aptly titled ‘Circular Motion’ as the null in this negative state of mind will persist, a stillness that may never be broken apart where loneliness seems to be the only relief for all of this. As a whole, there is an astoundment that swings around Scattersun and all of its elements. A collaboration that tries to break out of their comfort zone where Fax Gang and Parannoul embrace their wildly varied musical components and