LADY I
Brave Ones
Reggae isn’t the kind of musical force it was in the ‘70s when Bob Marley took it beyond the Caribbean to eventually cross-breed with mainstream rock and pop idioms and it’s not for lack of trying. B-side Makati continues to be the hub of reggae and ska live action every Sunday even as top Pinoy proponents like Reggae Mistress and Coffeebreak Island only get occasional gigs.
The irregularity of exposure is a major bane in Lady I’s ascent towards greater popularity. Lady I’s “Brave Ones” is a follow up to her debut album “Freedom Time” in 2009 and her followers will find out that she maintains a high level of lyrical and musical quality undimmed by the nine year gap between releases.
In its execution, “Brave Ones” heroically traverses the very same issues hammered out in the first album, namely, women empowerment, the joys of motherhood, and the nature of true love. An exception is “Totoy Bato”, Lady I’s initial attempt with Tagalog lyrics which tackles the illegal detention and imprisonment of a wrongly accused teener.
Her backing music, this time around, favors the same primary elements that showed up in “Freedom Time.” The one-drop beat and bouncing basslines are as steady as ever and they’re spiced up by fervent almost grungy rock guitars on one hand (e.g. “Bring Me The Light”, the title track) and soul-R&B aural delights ranging from the Musical Youth-sounding “Irie High” to the Three Degrees call-out of “Mareng Juana” to the sweet ode to her child entitled “Mama Belly”.
Better believe it. Lady I has hit upon a winning formula that deserves regular exposure.
FERN
Fern.
On the cover of his first EP, 17 year old solo artist Fern is shown seated on the floor in a pensive mood, holding a bouquet of roses. He seems to be expecting someone, hopefully not in vain ‘cause she’s really just caught up in traffic or simply a block away waiting for the sudden downpour to subside.
That sense of uneasy anticipation is superbly conveyed by the downbeat music that stitches the EP together. Of the six tracks on the mini-album, “Started” begins in an upbeat mood but past the 1 minute mark, it collapses into the overarching “woe-is-me” disposition.
Abetted by a slow beat and hushed synths, Fern issues verses in a voice that’s about to crack. In the opening track “Into You,” he asks, “Girl, you’ll always be/The only one I’ll love for me/But do you need me too?”. He again invokes a parallel quandary in the ending track “Lost” with “Tell me if it’s fine/If I go ahead and tell you what it’s like/To be dark and be in need of light.”
For a teenager, Fern has a firm grasp of the thorny quest for true love.
COELI
Here Today
Singer-songwriter, cellist and music teacher Coeli describes her music as ‘experimental folk’ perhaps to differentiate her songs from traditional kundiman and OPM electric folk rock. It’s probably the case since Coeli’s compositions, as presented in her debut EP, do not have the heady electronica nor the countrified hillybilly stomp of the Western model of ‘experimental folk.’
Nevertheless, Coeli is still a bracing listen as she takes chances with her voice articulating a variety of emotions with the swoops and glides here and there. The guitars carry most of the melodic load and Coeli stays on the mainstream pop course mostly in titular track. Otherwise, she’s freely roaming according to her own schemes, treating acoustic folk to a little freak-out every now and then.
LA LOBA NEGRA
Natural Selection
Speaking of grooving out, the La Loba Negra trio composed of a two female guitar players and a male drummer cooks up a heady mix of dub, blues, rock, reggae and Latin in their EP cleverly titled “Natural Selection.” Right off the first track, the band tames a strange beast that starts dubby and chill-out then grows cocky in country rock stance only to end up in a heavy skanking eruption. It’s a recurring m. o. that blazes in true glory with “Manic Depressive Salsa,” a garage rocker as played by a dance-oriented band. These rising indie acts will perform at the UP Town Center Amphitheater on Record Store Day on April 21 headlined by Ely Buendia and Itchyworms.
HARRY STYLES
Harry Styles
Former One Dimension girl bait Harry Styles goes solo and his debut album aims not only at every youngster’s heart but also at the head of twenty-somethings. The ten tracks on Styles’ self-titled new release is instinctive in cramming pop hooks where they matter most and at the same time gets a bit cerebral by accommodating styles outside of Harry’s comfort zone in a previous lifetime with 1 D.
“Meet Me In The Hallway” pays homage to Oasis, “Sign of The Times” imitates Gotye masquerading as Bruno Mars and “Carolina” is as breezy as teeny bop pop can get. Meanwhile, hard rock rears its gnarled head in “Only Angel” while “From The Dining Table” simulates the pleasures of DIY sex. Expect a rowdier, slightly crazier rockstar when Harry Styles returns to Manila on tour behind his first album at the MOA Arena on May 1.