In this age of short attention span, it’s more of a necessity to come up with a melodically strong chorus, preferably arriving within the first minute.
Two male Filipino solo acts are sonically trying to execute that in their songwriting effort, one banking his falsetto on timeless hugot lines, the other incorporating electronics to sound he’s here now.
Mark Carpio, a gold record awardee for combined single streams, is boasting his fresh single “Ako Na Lang Sana” released on all digital platforms last June 22. You will hear the infectious chorus right on the 53rd-second mark.
“Here’s my chance to add a new song about unrequited love, which admittedly, is a timeless theme,” related the voice behind the smash hit “Hiling,” which has garnered a staggering 28 million streams and counting.
The new single, one whose sentimentality is anchored on piano and heartfelt singing, solidifies Mark’s talent as singer-songwriter. Another of his previous cuts, “Kay Tagal” (not bad with nearly two million streams) follows that chorus is king and repetitive formula.
Christened as New Generation Balladeer, Mark did covers of Ric Segreto’s “Don’t Know What To Do (Don’t Know What To Say)” and Rey Valera’s “Naalala Ka” to good reception. Somehow he is pressured to revive the classics!
For “Ako Na Lang Sana,” he only needed to be inspired by something relatable to pull it off. He noted, “I won’t exactly say that it’s about me, but I’ve seen it enough to know how that situation feels.”
The new song released by Warner Music can now be streamed through Spotify and Apple Music and downloaded on iTunes and all other digital music platforms as Mark continues working on songs for his next album Bakit Labis Kitang Mahal.
The other guy is also a Mark man, but with a Q: Marq Dollentes.
A two-time Aliw Award nominee, he independently released in digital format a carefully treated 12 track-pop stretch of 49 minutes bannered by Stars Align, with its catchy intro and well-placed vocal effects.
He titled the package First 1: Kathang Puso because he intends to do a second one.
“It has always been a lifelong dream to do an album that I myself wrote, produced, did the vocal arrangements, and performed in,” expressed Marq.
He said of his single. “Stars Align is a love song in which I imagined finding that certain person for a moment and then you don’t know if you’re ever gonna meet again.”
The song has a remixed version orchestrated by his brother DJ Brownmeister who is from Bacolod.
Marq is likewise very much in touch with the visuals accompanying his music. In fact videos for his previous songs “Tonight,” “Disenyo,” “Gabay,” “Bagong Pilipino,” and “Christmas Lights” have all enjoyed circulation in MYX Music Channel.
He also penned “Dear World,” a track created in the aftermath of the devastatingly historic typhoon Yolanda wherein he was vocally joined by the seasoned Kuh Ledesma, Isabella, Jona Viray, Guji Lorenzana, Jane Joseph, Cristina Gonzalez, among others.
