Studio Cut

Rachel Alejandro releases ‘Believe’ under Sony Music 0

Posted on March 19, 2010 by kankan

It has taken six years for recording artist, stage actress and entrepreneur Rachel Alejandro to come up with a new album and music lovers better “Believe” it’s worth the wait.  According to Rachel, the 13 tracks in “Believe” were chosen so carefully that she refused songs submitted to her by friends (some of whom are big names in the industry) when these didn’t fit the bill. “It was hard telling them ‘no’ because what they wrote were really very good songs. But in the end, we couldn’t just settle for ‘very good’ – we wanted the best,” she said.  One of these is the album’s carrier single, “Tayo Pa Ba?” written by Edith Gallardo and Niño Regalado. Rachel admits crying the first time she heard it. “I had just broken up with my boyfriend then so I was able to relate to the song. ‘Tayo’ will please my loyal fans and will win over younger people who may not be familiar with my music.”  “Tayo Pa Ba?” is about two people who have supposedly moved on from their relationship but are still thinking secretly that what they had may still be worth one more chance. The song is in the vein of Rachel’s biggest hits such as “Paalam Na,” “Bulag Sa Katotohanan” and “Kay Tagal” that all tell of real situations versus mere generic messages.  Released under Sony Music Entertainment, “Believe” also contains the songs “Bakit Hindi Tayo?” (penned by Cholo Escano), “Hanggang” (an Amber-Marcus Davis collaboration) and “The Rain” (written by Rachel herself). The remakes are “You Were There” (by Southern Sons done in duet with her father, Hajji Alejandro), “Xanadu” (Olivia Newton John), “Don’t Stop Believing” (Journey) “Alone” (Heart) and “There’s A Fine, Fine Line” (from the musical “Avenue Q”).  “Although our concept for ‘Believe’ was to come up with strong original materials, we included these remakes to introduce the pop audience to the musicals that I am part of,” she said.  Rachel is part of the puppet-meets-person musical, “Avenue Q,” that runs at Carlos P Romulo Theater inside the RCBC Plaza in Makati City from March 12 to March 27. Produced by Atlantis Productions, the singer plays Kate Monster and Lucy the Slut in the Tony Award-winning show.  “I want my latest album to show people who have not watched any theatrical production that theater is not elitist at all. Many musicals are totally relatable even to young people. Hopefully, the cuts that we chose that are from musicals I am part of, will inspire them to check out the shows,” she said.  Rachel describes “Believe” as a pop album; one that’s easy to listen to but canvasses the geniuses of some of OPM’s finest songwriters and producers. The songs have different flavors and show off her different vocal textures. “I was able to give my voice a rest these past years which now allows me to use its full strength and range. If before, ang boses ko ay parang piano na ilang tiklada lang ang tumutugtog, now every key is functional,” said she.  Asked if the changing trend in music has affected her singing style, Rachel said that what it strengthened is her belief that singing from the heart is potent above all. “I have never been nor will ever be into vocal acrobatics. What’s important in singing is sincerity. When you tell your story as honestly as possible, you make a connection,” she said.  Rachel will also be in the US in April for some shows with Geneva Cruz. She’ll go to New York end of the year to take up skating lessons in preparation for her role in “Xanadu.”

Launched on “ASAP XV” last March 7, [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-rEStC15i8] Rachel says “Believe” reflects her rekindled purpose as an artist. “If you’re someone like me who has been around, you know that it’s easy to lose sight of why you entered the business in the first place. This album reasserts my belief that new good music still exists. That in these days of the revivals, fresh materials still have a place in the OPM scene,” she concludes.

rachel_believe

It has taken six years for recording artist, stage actress and entrepreneur Rachel Alejandro to come up with a new album and music lovers better “Believe” it’s worth the wait.

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Tags: music opm rachel alejandro sony music
Category music

Joanna Ampil releases first album under Sony Music 0

Posted on March 16, 2010 by kankan

International theater actress and singer Joanna Ampil is one of few Filipino talents who can say the following line about her debut album without sounding as if she’s bragging or bluffing:

“I don’t have to show off—I can show people more of what I can do later, and only if required.”

She’s starred in some of the biggest musicals in London’s West End (“Miss Saigon,” “Jesus Christ Superstar,” “Les Miserables”), sang before the Queen of England, and worked with the likes of Andrew Lloyd Weber and Cameron Macintoch.

To say that Joanna is an accomplished artist would be an understatement; just like her 12-track album, “Try Love,” as a demonstration of the greateness of her vocal abilities, is understated.

Recorded last year while she was on vacation in Manila, the tracklist is comprised of such songs as “If I Believed,” “I’m Caught Between Goodbye And I Love You” (the carrier single), “Words Get In The Way,” “I Only Live To Love You” (a Cilla Black-original later remade by Cliff Richards) and “Maghihintay Sa Yo” which are all more singable-hummable than knock-out karaoke fodder.

Yet Joanna, with the candor of someone who is self-assured yet eager still to challenge onesself by taking on new things, says capturing the pop in “Try Love” wasn’t as easy as, well, fizzle.

“Singing pop does not require me to use my big voice nor training in theater. Indeed, the challenging part, it turns out, was unlearning all those so I could give deliver on what the genre required,” says the soprano.

Joanna was surprised with the meticulous way her album was recorded. Although she had recorded abroad for some of the soundtracks of the musicals she had starred in, the singing was captured raw because the intention was to make the recording approximate a live performance with its flaws and all.

“But for my pop CD here, me and producer Ferdie Marquez, we went for perfection,” she quips.

Many have heard of the honors Joanna has brought the country but few here actually know how she sounds. That’s because Joanna left the Philippines 16 years ago to join “Miss Saigon” in London, and opted to stay there when other big opportunities came her way.

Now that she’s back, Joanna wants people to discover for themselves what she is about.

“I’m not going to be hard sell. If I keep thinking about what other people will say about me, then I’ll be limiting myself. I’ll just do what I think is best and if people embrace that, then that will be amazing,” says she.

Joanna, like many Filipinos, is both romantic and nostalgic. “Try Love,” she says, has songs that she grew up with and those she thinks Filipinos will love.

“I went by gut feel—I am, after all, Filipino, too, so I know what my kind like.”

One of her favorite tracks in the album is her duet with Ariel Rivera on “The Last Time I Felt Like This.” Joanna says it was a blast hearing her voice blend with the balladeer’s because “he used to be just a familiar voice I’d hear on the radio.”

She adds that OPM holds a special place in her heart because she is Pinoy regardless if she is in London or in La Union.

“Just because I stayed away for a time doesn’t mean I have forgotten who I am. You can’t run away from yourself even if you try. I still miss the weather here, the holidays such as Christmas and Valentine’s Day, the food…”

Another of her favorite song in the album is the title track written by Julie Gold (Bette Midler’s “From A Distance,” Lea Salonga’s “Journey”). Joanna says that the song “Try Love” was previously unrecorded that’s why she had to study it based on the composer’s demo tape.

“I want to reiterate that though Filipinos are known worldwide to be good mimics of other singers, we, too, know how to sing originals—and do a good job of it,” she says.

Other songs in “Try Love” are “Healing,” “Follow Your Road,” “Hurting Each Other,” “Lately” and “I Don’t Have The Heart.” The album is released under Sony Music Entertainment (Philippines) Inc.

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