Award-winning singer-songwriter Barbie Almalbis celebrates her 25th year in the music business with the release of her fourth studio album, Scenes From Inside. The 9-track concept album also sees Barbie turning a few pages in her multi-faceted life as she draws from her connected experiences as a musician, a mom, a friend, a wife, and a pet lover during the time of quarantine,
Speaking to Soundstrip, Barbie said it’s been seven years since her last studio recording and the time felt ripe for a new album. “The idea for a new album came about some three years ago when I started writing songs with my husband, Martin. From there, I composed new materials for an album again, she added,”
Flickering with warm, conversational flair, Scenes From Inside gives listeners a lot of reasons to welcome Barbie back. There’s always Almalbis’ introspective and engaging songwriting even as the new record carefully constructs a colorful musical canvas with splashes of jangly indie pop, electronic music, post-rock, alternative pop, Christian music, and folk-rock.
Barbie told Soundstrip, “I’ve always written from my life experiences, so the struggles as well as learnings in this current pandemic season became an overall theme for the latest album. Yes, it’s a collection of songs, but hopefully, they still fit into a theme since they’re like slices of life from the past few years.
“The album title “Scenes From Inside” was inspired by the art work of my sister-in-law, Kuki Ulpindo,” the singer-songwriter expanded. “She carved and block-printed a picture from our “gigs from home,” which was mostly how we gigged in the pandemic. So, it felt right since everything’s been happening just inside our homes these days.”
It’s noticeable that songs like “Silaw” and “Iyong-Iyo” seem to be more than just love songs. They feel like hymns to God and Barbie placing her life in His hands. On the whole, there’s a chance that “Scenes from Inside” is Barbie’s contemplation of her current relationship with God and her fellow men.
“Definitely!” the singer-songwriter replied. “There’s also “Kumpas” that’s inspired by Matthew 6:33. A lot of the new songs came out of conversations I’ve had with Martin, who co-wrote all three, including “Comment.” We often talk about art, music, and how they relate to our faith and life.
“This year has been one of the most challenging for many of us, and it has also given us the time to hold on deeper to our faith and find hope and security in God,” she elaborated.
There’s some kind of electronica going on in “Days Are Long.” It’s technically outside her usual comfort zone musically so Barbie’s probably tinkering with new toys this time around.
She was quick to answer, “I’m a fan of music technology, especially guitar effects and the new toys and gadgets invented for musicians. It does take a lot of time to learn to use those tools though.
“For the track “Days Are Long,” I used a mini synthesizer called the Pocket Operator as the main bed for the song. I’ve also been using the Empress Effects Zoia for synths and drum machine whenever I get to perform with my band though we couldn’t meet in person yet.”
The band behind the new recording consists of Karel Honasan on bass, Jonard Bolor on drums, and Nikko Rivera of keys. Rommel De La Cruz played bass on “Iyong-Iyo” and “Comment.” Jonard recorded the tracks in the studios while Michael Alba also played drums on “Kumpas.” Tech head and keyboard player, Nikko Rivera, managed the sending of files back and forth easily so that the entire project worked seamlessly even if the band members hardly saw each other during the lockdowns.
Besides raising their beautiful children and producing new music, Barbie kept busy learning to survive the current pandemic.
She related, “Aside from making music this year, I’ve been learning to bake, mostly different kinds of bread, been doing more exercises — walking, swimming. The kids and their cousins have been getting more serious with music lessons too, and they jam together often. I teach and jam with them from time to time.
She’s particularly grateful she still gets to play music with family, now that many of them can play musical instruments. Still, she occasionally misses face-to-face contact with her audience.
She shared, “Doing online shows is also fun, because despite not being physically in the same room, you can still interact with people through the comments section. But yes, there is nothing like playing live together, which was something my band got to do for the first time in months, during our album launch,
“Still a virtual audience though, because it was through FB live, but I really missed playing together with the complete band in the flesh.”
