Written by Rory Marshall The mind can get so jumbled up that even our own thoughts can be unintelligible to us. What we’re left with is a confusing cacophony of emotion and dissonant ideas, but somehow, aunt robert was able to take theirs and masterfully craft it into music in their new indietronica / indie pop hybrid album ‘Goodbyes Forever.’ We’ve seen EPs and singles from them over the years, but this is their first full-length album. ‘Goodbyes Forever’ takes a brave leap into vulnerability, budging open doors to the mind usually kept shut in order to cope with overwhelming feelings. Spanning across 10 tracks, each song delves deep into specific yet relatable emotions. From isolation and pining, to girlhood and resentment towards a past lover, each song dedicates itself to these specific feelings. It comes across that the album is a hodgepodge of different sentiments, but how better would it be to describe the chaos that the mind can be sometimes? The theme of mishmashed emotions is also mirrored through the selection of musical genres present in the album. aunt robert has taken this as an opportunity to diversify their sound, branching out to different genres to better illustrate their songs’ message while still holding on to the indie-rock style that fans fell in love with in the first place. This can be seen as early as the first track of the project, “Frount Robert” an upbeat, poptechno-esque track tinged with longing. It’s their classic aunt robert sound accompanied by synths and vocal effects. The album progresses smoothly, with the next couple of tracks leaning towards indie-rock, including the tracks “Mad” and “Please Say It” which were released as singles last year and have now found a home in the album. It’s such a cohesive arrangement of songs that when the album takes a stylistic turn in “Keepsake”, you realize you’re already at the midpoint of the album. With “Keepsake”, the band slows down the pace of the album and takes on a more intimate, reminiscent approach. Utilising an acoustic and atmospheric sound, aunt robert looks back on a past relationship with its promises unkept and answers to questions left unsaid, all the while still wishing them the best. It’s a beautiful, succinct track that deserves to be highlighted. The second half of the album showcases the experimentation that aunt robert endeavored, with most of the tracks leaning heavily towards that poptechno tinge we’ve seen in the opening track. The drum machines and synths create such a vibrant atmosphere. The production on these tracks proves to be excellent – they have a lot of elements mashed up with each other without sounding busy. It’s discordant in the most lovely way. As seen in tracks like “Blue” and “I’ll Go Wherever You Wanna Go”. As the album comes to a close, it ends with a hopeful note in “Hoarse (I’ll Get up Like I Always Do)”. The song devolves into high gain crunch towards the end with aunt robert’s voice ringing throughout the breakdown singing the lyrics like “I’ll get up like I always do” and “And I care like I always do. Nothing bad but it’s nothing new” It’s reminiscent of the consoling we sometimes do to ourselves in times of distress, reminding ourselves that we are capable of getting back up no matter what tries to convince us otherwise. ‘Goodbyes Forever’ is an apt name for the album. The whole project was a way to say the unsaid to whoever needed to hear it, so all that’s left is to bid farewell. Its closure and catharsis spread across 10 songs. aunt robert has done these genres before in smaller projects, but in ‘Goodbyes Forever,’ it seems they really dug their nails into it and honed their unique sound, making us excited to see how they develop their arsenal of styles in the future. SUPPORT THE ART AND THE ARTIST: goodbyes forever by aunt robert
Tag: Rory Marshall
TRACK REVIEW: Franz Guico – di ko aaminin
Written by Rory Marshall Cagayan De Oro’s very own Franz Guico switches things up in his newest release, “di ko aaminin.” The folk singer-songwriter has taken a nudge in a different direction with his first single of 2025. Franz Guico has built up a reputation for soft, heartfelt acoustic tracks – reminiscent of haranas and sweet ballads, but with “di ko aaminin,” he casts his music in another light with a Math Rock twang. Nothing is lost with the new sound. Everything that made his music work before is present in the track, just with a new coat of paint. With his honeyed lyrics and melodies that seem to take residence in your ear long after the song ends, now accompanied with a shifting time signature and twinkly, complex guitar riffs, this feels more like an evolution rather than a switch-up. He’s no stranger to intricacies in his guitar playing, as seen in his previous folk tracks like “at nagkagulo”, but in this new single, the translation is seamless. All that’s different is the switch from soft acoustic to crunchy electric guitars. That, paired with crashy drums and a harmonic breakdown to close out the song, by the end of it, you’re left wondering how well his two styles complement each other. Is it a step in the right direction? Yes. His discography has a lot of heart, with tracks like “dahan dahan ka nang nawawala” and “ikaw na ang buhay ko” deserving more recognition than they have, but it wouldn’t be a far cry to label his discography a drop in the bucket of singer-songwriter OPM. Experimentation is healthy, and shaking things up is a natural part in the artistic process. It doesn’t always result in a success or a path the artist wants to pursue, but for the case of Franz Guico and “di ko aaminin”, this is an avenue worth exploring. SUPPORT THE ART AND THE ARTIST:
EP REVIEW: Bins – The Body Project
Written by Rory Marshall Picture this: a packed dance floor, dim lights, and an intoxicating aroma of smoke and sweat.That’s what’s in store in Pasig-based DJ Bins’ new EP ‘The Body Project.’ This project follows his 2024 debut release “Purgation / On The Upswing” and with it comes a hypnotizing collection of trance-house tracks masterfully crafted to hijack your body’s motor functions, so you can’t help but pick up your feet and move to the rhythm. Spanning across 4 tracks, ‘The Body Project’ showcases the hypnosis of Trance and House, with each song having its own roadmap for body movement. Bins’ shows that the magic of his style of the genre lies in House’s simplicity. Each track keeps it steady with a mellow-paced beat set to 4/4, and ambient synths and sound effects are expertly placed throughout the song to add to the buildups and the comedowns. The atmosphere his tracks create is nothing short of enthralling, and it’s apparent to any listener, regardless of whether they’re familiar with the genre, that Bins knows what it takes to make you lose yourself in the thumping of the beat. Bins has a penchant for soul which he incorporates proudly in his music which is a wonderful yet fitting twist to the House genre. This is seen in tracks like “Body Satisfaction” and “Forever Chemical” with features like a funky guitar riff and psychedelic-esque synths. It’s reminiscent of the glamorous disco scene of the 70s but built for the modern era. ‘The Body Project,’ being only the second ever official release for Bins, is almost unbelievable when considering the quality of the tracks. His sound is a testament to his assuredness and belief in his own style of music production, and really shows how much he planted his feet on the ground and picked a direction for his style. The House is certainly here to stay with talents like Bins in the helm. SUPPORT THE ART AND THE ARTIST: The Body Project by Bins
EP REVIEW: muckmedicine – Caspian
Written By Rory Marshall What do you get when you are in a dark bedroom, a Stratocaster, and being deep in the throes of melancholia? That’s what’s in store in muckmedicine’s newest EP “Caspian”. Spanning across 6 tracks are scattered thoughts and confessions left unsaid; a voice echoed through angsty indie rock. This EP is the second long-form release since Migs Tabilin’s debut EP “Inside Enclosures” back in 2020, and with this most recent project, he doubles down on his lo-fi sound. How muckmedicine differs from his sister band Fairview Far — which features more upbeat indie rock and playful lyrics — is that he takes the opportunity in his solo work to indulge in dejection. With Tabilin’s solo work, he explores his melancholy and puts his inner monologue into song, using the audience as a stand-in for the person he wishes to let into his psyche. It’s intimate lyrically, which is only accentuated by the lo-fi vibe that Tabilin has embraced wholeheartedly. “Warmth” and “Erase Me (I Hope She Listens to Modern Baseball)” feature lyrics directed to a once-loved one. As a listener, it’s akin to reading a letter addressed to someone else, and what’s found in those letters is pining and unreciprocated love. The songwriting varies on other tracks, reading more like vignettes of thought. Scattered ideas similar to ones that intrusively pop up in your head while trying to go to sleep. This is seen in songs like “Please Play Florist At My Funeral” and the intro “Pattern,” which features a monologue from Ice King of Adventure Time. It adds to the DIY aesthetic, harkoning to tiktoks where people put midwest emo riffs on top of random monologues from cartoons. True devastation is found in the combination of the two writing styles, which is no better showcased in the final track “Cut”. The song takes an even more sullen turn than the previous entries of the EP. It’s an unresolved goodbye led with resentment, and conversely, longing for what still could be. The abrupt and straightforward lines slice deep into the chest: “I don’t ever wanna see your fucking face again, I never wanted to see any of you again”. But the knife finds more purchase with the last line of the EP: “I never made a gesture, but I wanted you to stay”. The production of the project lends a lot to the intimacy of the overall sound; The lo-fi bedroom rock sound only adds charm to the EP, further emphasizing the vibe of being alone in your room with only your thoughts to keep you company. The vocals are, at times, passed through an EQ filter, reminiscent of hearing a voicemail left late at night, as seen in “Wednesday”. The crunchy distortion of the guitars adds depth to the morose nature of the music and adds to the swell of the breakdowns in tracks like “Patterns” and “Cut”. The sound is evocative of the pandemic-era boom of home music production. When before it was a necessity, muckmedicine uses it as a tool to capture solitude and isolation, both physical and mental. “Caspian” was an opportunity to say the things folks would never think to say out loud. To finally release the cacophony of thoughts and find closure in the music. The dedication on muckmedicine’s Bandcamp simply states “for our loved ones”, which could not be a more succinct description for the project. It’s an EP for victims of unrequited love and those who struggle to put into words the complex emotions they feel. Muckmedicine’s pandemic era sound was utilised beautifully in this project. As fitting as it was with the themes of isolation of the EP, it does leave the listener wondering if he’ll evolve his sound further in future projects. His style has been consistent to the point of stagnant with this EP sharing a lot of similarities from his initial EP which was released all the way back in 2020. 5 years later, it can be hard to tell if any time has passed at all. Knowing this, it just makes us even more eager to see what muckmedicine can come up with in his next endeavors. SUPPORT THE ART AND THE ARTIST: Caspian by muckmedicine
TRACK REVIEW: Novocrane – Safe and Sound
Written by Rory Marshall Following the release of their first single “Imaginary Party”, Bacolod’s budding rock project Novocrane doubles down on their dream pop style with their second-ever single “Safe and Sound”. Studious listeners will remember a bare-bones version of the track being teased a year ago on their Soundcloud under the name “from there,” but now it’s polished with their aesthetic that meshes indie rock and dream pop. In contrast to their first single, “Safe and Sound” takes an introspective turn and looks inward. The song tackles the conundrum of self-isolation. Kai Sevillano, the band’s lead, gives the listener a front row seat to her thought process, presenting the quandary ruminating in her mind: While one can find refuge in being alone, the suffocating demand for human connection is ever-present. The songwriting adds a layer of candidness to the words that is evocative of an anxiety-induced trail of thought and gives room to showcase her warm and intimate vocals. The vocal performance and poignant lyrics are only accentuated by the marriage of indie rock and dream pop, which is becoming a defining feature for Novocrane’s overall sound. The way the band coalesces the grungy guitar and high-attack drums with bright, glittery synths drowned in reverb creates an atmosphere of angst that will make you bob your head while you rethink your approach to relationships. In combination with Sevillano’s resonant vocal performance, it yields such a cohesive sound that it’s hard to believe that this is just their second release. “Safe and Sound,” along with their previous single “Imaginary Party,” lays a promising groundwork for the Novocrane’s growth. Their charming soundscape has once again proven to be a welcome addition to the indie scene. With this track being only their second-ever official release, fans are eager to see how they expand on this fusion of genres in future projects. Support the art and the artist: