Tag: Soul

  • 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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  • ALBUM REVIEW: Sica – GO SEE GOD

    Written by Elijah P.

    On “Go See God”, Sica’s faith and love for the game are at a crossroads. Tip-toeing between fame, personal growth, the trust between family and their cohorts, and the community unfolding before his very eyes. At his expense, this is a result of Sica contemplating his own position as a family man, as a businessman and as a performer. It’s one responsibility after the other, ultimately leaving all the decision-making to the high almighty himself, the central figure of the entire project. “Go See God” sees itself trying to reach a higher state, quite literally reaching billboard status, where the hemispheres of heaven are at the reach of his fingertips. Resulting in a divine intervention of events that led him to where he is today. It’s a lot to absorb and you may find it anywhere in any hip-hop project.

    However, “Go See God” is different in the extent of the scene today – It doesn’t flex, it improves. It’s not just “chill” for the sake of a mood algorithm. It elevates the story to different heights. The production on the one hand carries heavily. It’s told through experiments of contemporary r&b, hypnotizing passages of phonk and psychedelia, and full band live setups: a full-length record where the sonic and production choices shine through.

    In previous releases, the Greenhouse Records and Kartellem affiliate has always stayed sonically dormant early on in his career. Bonus track closer “Opmat” featuring Waiian bookends and at the same time starts the album in a loop proving everyone wrong mood-wise. “Hue For Ya” was a colorful, icy-cold taste test, “Go See God” was the full course.

    Going by the monikers “Baby Blu” and “Prettyboypacino”, he lives the life with the chalice on the one hand and a hundred bands on the other, proving that living the fast life could lead you to the grave in “Intro”; “Bukas Pa” grooves in hopes for living another day; the title track “Go See God” rides through the clouds under the influence of phonk and a tasteful string section; “Young Stunna Inalude” eases its way in boom-bap; album highlights “Bad to the Bone” and “25 (Still Alive)” exemplifies the range of Sica’s crooning and strong hook game. After sitting 36 minutes throughout the dark of its after-hours, Sica hopes that everyone listening would be praying for his soul. He himself would testify that he isn’t alone in the journey at night. “Go See God” is a redemption arc in his story, this is an address to his younger self: “Hindi ako matakot mamatay/ Takot ako kung san ako pupunta/ But fuck it baby, we still alive/ At bahala na kung ako ang mauuna”.

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