(LISTEN) Orange and Lemons Debuts New Kundiman-Inspired Single
The last time Orange & Lemons called for a press conference, it was 2007 and founding member Clem Castro wasn’t allowed inside the venue. Fast forward 12 years and things are a bit different. Okay, a LOT different.
Castro was joined by brothers Ace and JM del Mundo as well as sessionist Jared Nerona at the band’s first press conference in over a decade to debut its new single called “Pag-Ibig Sa Tabing Dagat.”
It’s not exactly the band’s first new song after reforming in 2017 (that would be “Lovers Go, Lovers Come,” released in 2017), but there was something special about this particular song that necessitated a formal announcement in front of members of the national media.
For one thing, the song itself isn’t exactly new. Castro said he wrote it over a decade ago, right around the time when the old lineup of the band (which included Marco Fundales) was having internal issues that would eventually lead to the infamous breakup.
“I have the habit of writing songs and then, pag kelangan na sa album huhugot na lang ng kanta (when we need one for the album, we’ll just pick one),” Castro said.
In this case, Castro said he rediscovered the song recently, dusted it off and re-recorded it as the lead single of a potential all-Tagalog album.
The song borrows elements of lyrical poetry and the languid, romantic kundimans or traditional Filipino love songs of the 19th and early 20th centuries. It’s also very literal; it starts out with sounds you’ll typically hear at the beach or dalampasigan—crashing waves and seagulls—before Castro’s pang-romansa vocals pierce through. The bass line bears a resemblance to the beginning of an old Orange and Lemons song—“She’s Leaving Home”—but that’s a callback we can get behind. O&L may be trying new things out, but at its core, it’s a Pinoy-flavored indie-pop band through-and-through.
This new song from the revitalized O&L is more proof that OPM is as alive as it’s ever been if you know where to look (and listen).
