Written by Kara Angan Metro Manila-based band Alyson shed their indie rock sound for Japanese city pop in their debut album ‘DEFINITELY LOVE!’. After sparse releases and landmark self-titled debut EP over the past years, the 5-piece band and their continuous championing of Ateneo’s music scene basically rebranded themselves; evoking the nostalgia of 80s Japanese fashion and music. The inspiration is clearly seen in the aesthetic surrounding the album—from the Japanese letters on the album cover to the fashion choices for their music videos for “Kiliti” and “Feel So Good” featuring beabu. At its core, this record is a faithful love letter to the genre and aesthetic. ‘DEFINITELY LOVE!’ opens with “Kiliti,” the band’s first single off the record. It starts off strong with a brass riff that introduces the overall feel of the album. Lead singer Pio Ligot’s voice is accented with backing vocals that continue the strong city pop influences of the LP. The upbeat, horn-led sound is consistent throughout the first half of the album. “My Love” and “Ginhawa” feels reminiscent of the sound off their 2018 EP, but with a stronger synth presence. The second half of the album opens with the second single, and arguably best track of the album, “Feels So Good” featuring beabu. The track evokes the spirit of Michael Jackson and Stevie Wonder-style 70s-80s pop ballads, and has the catchiest melody that becomes instant earworm-material. beabu’s lower register vocals is a great complement to Ligot’s falsettos. The bridge of the song is a solid climax as the two voices sing over each other, ending with beabu’s strong belt and Ligot’s riffs. The latter half of the album is the stronger of the two halves, featuring a more diverse-sounding set of songs. Aside from “Feels So Good,” “Summer Nights” open with a Japanese city pop-style spoken intro, “Fool” leans into 80s motown, “Babalik” opens with an a capella intro before segueing into the album’s prominent city pop sound, and “Underpass” is a strong record closer despite being a slower track compared to the rest of the album. It also includes Japanese dialogue during the interlude, which parallels their 2018 EP track “Telescope.” ‘DEFINITELY LOVE!’ is a cohesive-sounding album. However, this can be a double-edged sword—with the cohesion comes the pitfall of tracks sounding a tad too similar and borderline indistinguishable, such as the first three songs of the record. The latter half offers a better selection of diverse sounds, especially with strong tracks like “Feels So Good,” “Fool,” and “Underpass.” The city pop elements distinguish the band from their contemporaries, and is the proof of their more mature sound compared to their 2018 release. If the band continues to explore more of the 70s and 80s era music, it could offer more diverse and standout releases that still sound cohesive without being too similar in arrangement. Overall, this is a good debut album and a great reintroduction of Alyson to the local scene. Support the art & the artist:
Tag: Pop Rock
ALBUM REVIEW: Kenaniah – s/t
Lipa, Batangas’s very own Kenaniah has been hitting it big since the past year with viral Spotify hits such as “Bahala Na”, “Hindi Ikaw” and “Better Now”. O/C Records has consistently kept his schedule busy by playing a bunch of large-scale shows in the past year or so, building networks in the circuit of festivals all around the country. The 18-year old artist ticks all the boxes for sharing the same swagger with the big dogs of mainstream pop rock acts that have a suit, a tie, and a guitar. He is what other “Pogi Rock” zoomers aspire to be: a talent that’s planted by the industry. After years of brewing singles, sharing one video teaser after teaser and one record milestone after the other, Kenny looks and feels like he’s ready for the music world, and so he did it by releasing his debut self-titled album under the label; The result of which was turned upside down. The 9-track album is all duds. No variation, no complimentary sonic palette whatsoever. It’s a slog to listen to, not even your favorite performative rock band that got banned from a festival couldn’t reach the level of disappointment this album has. The self-titled album starts off with “Study First”, gated reverb from the drums greets the listener in ear-grating fashion. “Bahala Na” is followed up right away but the smash single doesn’t go hard enough to justify the outdated sound Kenaniah equipped by the time of the songs being written and recorded. Heck, even mentioning all the songs in this album feels like a waste of a single burning phrase if it was commissioned per word. The album and its songs just scream “not ready”. But we all know that Kenaniah took this sound choice a step further, bringing back the sound of 2016 in zombifying effects and beating the production and writing techniques like a dead horse. This demo quality of an album is an insult to a major label that could afford solid mixing and mastering, wherein the album already feels and sounds like it’s a highschool project: it’s raw and unfinished, nothing left to chew or bite on remarkably. This self-titled debut album would rather put a caveat of “fatigue” because of how drawn out the structures are, making the album almost impossible to distinguish if it was dissected in a “music review” format. If this is what the future of Cueshe or Adie dreamed of seeing, then the word “OPM” might be already doomed by the time they first stepped into the scene. Support the art & the artist: