In writing “Fool,” Dom Guyot decided to draw on an experience which is meaningful and relatable to anyone in love. He says that this came at a difficult time for him—during the early phase of the pandemic, he broke up with his last partner and lost both grandparents to COVID. “Coincidentally enough, I had a guy that I really fancied who seemed to show interest in me too,” he says, “And although he’s basically the type to break a heart, Miss Thang was gonna get her needs met one way or another, basically ignoring all the red flags and [playing the] fool.”
“Fool” takes a lighter, somewhat frivolous tone, a contrast to Dom Guyot’s previous album which mourned the loss of a relationship. He says that the track makes fun of the way our desires blind us from making rational decisions. The song is very much reminiscent of the way we look back and laugh at our past follies with people who are close to us and who understand what we have gone through. Guyot draws on this spirit in making this new track.
For “Fool,” Guyot worked with longtime collaborator and instrumentalist Ana Luna, an independent musician and producer based in Cebu. She helped him make the demo and contributed some stems to the recording. He also worked with beatmaker and producer Lustbass, who has been collaborating with several artists recently, including another UMG artist, Fern. He says that the artist-centered focus of the company helped him felt heard and acknowledged.
Guyot says that listening to a lot of R&B lately helped inspire his expectations for “Fool”: he wanted it to be something he would listen to every day. However, while he is his biggest fan, he is also his biggest critic, which shows in the way the song was produced. “The track went through a lot of changes, and ‘a lot’ is an understatement,” he says, “Probably [we had] around 8 alternate production drafts and 12 alternate mixes.”
“Fool” received its live debut in the much-anticipated UMUSIC FanVerse event. For Guyot, this song exemplifies what his music is: “It’s R&B. It’s soul. It’s sexy but witty. It’s technically demanding but lyrically lighthearted. It’s gay. It’s reality. It is a juxtaposition of these contrasting thoughts that cohesively go well together. And that is who I am. It is equally as posh and beautiful as it is unserious and rugged.” And while he says that “Fool” represents the struggles of “many queer men looking for love and affection” in a way they couldn’t do when they were younger, he offers a more lighthearted reason one should hear the track: “For every 10 streams, a lonely bottom gets topped.”
“Fool” is now out on all music streaming platforms under Republic Records Philippines.