In the midst of today’s state of social unrest and the cloud of uncertainty during the ongoing enhanced community quarantine in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, young Filipino music group juan karlos unveils a surprise album that poignantly consists of tracks on love and mirrors of life of today’s Filipinos.
“Diwa” is juan karlos’ first album released under MCA Music. With its release, the record is now currently available across all major platforms like Spotify, Apple Music, and all major digital streaming channels.
“We were given the freedom to explore on this album, to do whatever we want without context, to be more experimental and different. ‘Diwa‘ is a product of passion while having fun,” shared juan karlos frontman and vocalist JK Labajo.
The ten-track album is a mixture of songs that best represents all the musical influences of the members of the multi-awarded pop rock band. “It’s difficult to classify our sound. We have different songs in the album from metal, blues, alternative, and typical OPM love songs,” stated the 19-year-old The Voice Kids Philippines alumnus.
A number of songs from “Diwa” were already made available prior to the album’s March 20, 2020 release. One track called “Kalawakan” has already been performed by Labajo in live shows and already has a lyric video up. “I wrote it for my girlfriend Maureen,” he shared matter-of-factly.
“Sampaguita” is then a collaboration with OPM rap artist Gloc-9, that’s been making noise in the airwaves and streaming platforms. Labajo shared that Gloc-9 and him met during the Guillermo Mendoza Box Office Awards night and he openly asked the award-winning rap artist if they can work on a song together. Numbers and demos were exchanged until they were ready to record the said track.
“It was supposed to be a ballad song and it had its own verse already. But I decided to turn it into a ballad with a rap (that Gloc-9 wrote himself) because I wanted to collaborate with Gloc-9; I look up to him as an artist. It was an honor to be able to work with him,” Labajo said.
Upon the release of the album, another track was then presented, “Pasensya,” a hard-hitting ballad jammed with guitar riffs, powerful vocals, and ethereal resonance.
“There are certain songs that I write that has significant meanings for me but when it’s out for the public to consume, it turns into an open song that depends on you and how you make that song your own. Having had not that much experience in life yet, what I do with some of my songs is that I try to create a story in my mind, then I write a song as a soundtrack of that story,” Labajo furthered.
As of the moment, the songs in “Diwa” can be enjoyed via streaming but when the dust settles, juan karlos is ready to share and perform these tracks live.
DIWA TRACK LIST:
Stream the full album here:
Update (as of April 22, 2020)
juan karlos has just announced an upcoming virtual listening party this April 24, 2020,Friday via video calling platform Zoom.