It’s a crazy start of July for Billboard Philippines. OPM and Kpop took a big hit with their representations dropping down to 9 and 7, respectively. The Chainsmokers , Little Mix and Ed Sheeran now lead the charts with 6 songs. These movements resulted from the arrival of many new entries, the highest of which is “2U” by David Guetta featuring Justin Bieber at number 23. The top 5 are virtually non-movers and have been doing so since the debut of this chart.
For this week, we’ll be taking a look at the song that cannot seemingly break into the top three – Luis Fonsi’s “Despacito”. Let’s listen:
| Title: | Despacito (feat. Daddy Yankee) |
| Artist: | Luis Fonsi |
| Released: | January 12, 2017 |
The first version I heard is actually the Remix including Justin Biber. I was suprised that this original became an even bigger hit. For the record, I have no idea who Luis Fonsi is. Daddy Yankee I’ve heard before from 2004’s “Gasolina”. And now with a single entitled “Despacito”, I know I’ll be in for an incomprehensible listening for the next 3 minutes and 47 seconds. The intro guitars remind me a lot of The Eagles’ “Hotel California”. The verse is all in Spanish as expected. Luis Fonsi’s voice brings in something new with the semi-husky voice meets pop. I think what makes this song catchy is the one-two beat and clean guitars. As of July 2017, Despacito is the most streamed song of all time. It is safe to say that popularity of this song flew past the language barrier. I’m imagining a lot of fans yelling ‘Mi favorito!’ since this song came out.
For the OPM song, we’ll take a look at the latest offering from one of my favorite local bands, Silent Sanctuary. Let’s take a look at “Pasensya Ka Na”:
| Title: | Pasensya Ka Na |
| Artist: | Silent Sanctuary |
| Released: | April 8, 2015 |
Before I review this song, a bit of history first of how I came across Silent Sanctuary. Ever since I started listening to music, I already had a soft spot for classical instruments on rock or alternative music. I think my favorite is the live concert of Metallica with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra. Sugarfree also did it with Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra in 2008 and put out a live album. I was lucky enough to see Urbandub do it on one of the notoriously famous University of the Philippines fairs. I wish I had a copy of that night! Anyway, a good childhood friend of mine introduced me to this band by lending the first album entitled “Fuschiang Pag-ibig”. It’s a play on words on “puchang pag-ibig” which literally translates to “fucking love”. What not many people know is that this is already their second album. Its their first with current frontman Sarkie who replaced original singer Norman Dellosa. That album, in my opinion, is one of the best that came out of OPM in recent years. Not a single song to throw away. Each song can easily be a hit by itself which reminded me of early Eraserheads albums. I really recommend that you listen to it. Their second and third albums are okay, I guess. They were able to produce some hits here and there but none of them had a track listing as great as the debut album.
Now to the song “Pasensya Ka Na” or “I Apologize” currently sitting at #51. It’s my first time listening to this which is great. I like how it sounds very different from what they have done in the past. It gives us the same old Silent Sanctuary but in a different light. That’s good because it shows growth. Right from the intro, you can easily hear the difference. Even some of the other sounds they incorporated appears to be something pulled out of Up Dharma Down’s catalog. Sarkie’s voice really elevates with this kind of slow music. And if you’re looking for the strings, it starts somewhere in the middle of the second verse. I’m not quite sure about the six seconds of distorted guitar filler, though. I think the song fairs the same with or without it. Either way, I still find that this song is one of their best yet after the debut album. Now I’m very curious how the entire album sounds like.
BillboardPH Watcher 