Thoughts And Notions – A Love So Real (20th Anniversary Edition)
There’s something brazenly charming about a band saying, “Remember that old song we did decades ago? Yeah, it deserves to exist in HD.” Thoughts And Notions don’t just re-release A Love So Real; they rebuild it like mechanics resurrecting a beloved old car into a slick electric one that hums instead of wheezes. The result feels at once familiar and revitalized: all the hallmarks of their 90s-2000s pop/rock DNA, but fed through a sleeker, shinier filter. And crucially, it’s not nostalgia for nostalgia’s sake. It doesn’t pander, it doesn’t wink; it insists the core sincerity of their mission of “uplifting wounded souls” still matters, maybe even more so now. A Love So Real doesn’t beg for irony or detachment. Instead, it doubles down on earnestness, and in doing so, somehow makes sincerity sound rebellious. The audacity isn’t just in the re-release; it’s in proving that sincerity, done right, never goes out of style.
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Aneka Abarrientos – So Close
So Close doesn’t announce itself with fireworks or crash cymbals; it creeps in like a late-night conversation you weren’t emotionally prepared for. Aneka Abarrientos’ voice is both fragile and confident; a Fiona Apple or honestly, ballad-mode-Taylor Swift-type paradox that makes sense the moment you hear it. There’s polish here, sure, but it’s the kind of polish that doesn’t erase the fingerprints, leaving just enough imperfection to feel like she’s sitting next to you, confessing something raw and unfiltered. The production avoids melodrama, instead weaponizing silence and restraint; the song breathes, which means you have no choice but to breathe with it. The power of So Close isn’t in grand crescendos or belted high notes; it’s in how it leaves space for your own heartbreak to crawl in and sit down. Aneka doesn’t just sing about the almosts. Rather, she forces you to remember every almost you’ve ever had, and the result is quietly devastating.
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Dagger Dion and The Rock Vampirez – Apoy
Subtlety is not even on speaking terms with this track; instead, Dagger Dion and The Rock Vampirez deliver a full-on theatrical gut punch, blending glam-rock swagger with OPM grit and coating the whole thing in unapologetic rage. It’s not just a song about breadwinner struggles; it’s a howl of frustration at a culture that demands sacrifice while offering very little back. The guitars bite, the drums stomp, and the vocals sound like someone kicking down the door to your apathetic Spotify queue. It’s deliberately messy, loud, and emotionally maximalist in a way that feels borderline dangerous, and that’s the point. Apoy isn’t background music; it’s the soundtrack to burning down a system that keeps failing people, and it revels in being gloriously unsubtle.
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About the Author
A tenured media critic known working as a ghost writer, freelance critic for various publications around the world, the former lead writer of review blogspace Atop The Treehouse and content creator for Manila Bulletin.
