When music, art, and poetry come together to craft a beautifully painful song that speaks of persevering grief and hope of lost love, we listen to it with delicate tenderness. No Lore becomes our favorite Filipino sibling alt-pop duo that never fails to create great music that fuses different elements of pop, electronic, and synth.
The 4-minute song transports you to a different musical experience that quickly progresses from a staccato approach of their first verse to an intelligent build-up with a synth-laced progression where you hear them almost screaming their hearts out to a delicate chant of “Simula Ngayon.” You can feel the heaviness right from the start when the duo starts the song with “Simula Ngayon, pipilitin kong gumising, sa mundong wala sa bukas mo.”
When asked what “Simula Ngayon” is all about, the sibling-duo elaborates how the song is about “…life after a breakup. It talks about the feelings and thoughts that come after a failed relationship.”
“The song encourages listeners to move forward and find hope in new beginnings. If you’re going through a tough breakup, this song can help you feel better and inspire you to keep going.” Tita Halaman explains.
This is only their first among many singles to be released this year under their record label Off the Record with Ricky Ilacad as executive producer and Nick Lazaro co-producing and behind the mix and mastering. According to the duo, working with Nick Lazaro has been one of the highlights in their process of producing the song.
“This song was co-produced by Nicholas Lazaro of La Balls studio. Fun part is Nick is one of the artists we have looked up to since we were young. We didn’t expect that one day we’ll get to work with him. Also, this was our first time recording our music in a fully equipped studio. In the past, we had been recording our parts in our bedroom and sending them to the production team. With the easing of pandemic restrictions, we were able to work closely with our co-producer. We plan to continue working like this for our future songs, it has definitely elevated our creative output to new heights.” says Jerald Juatco about working with Nick Lazaro for “Simula Ngayon”
There are hints of more songs to be released this year and an upcoming album for the alt-pop sibling duo. For Jerald and Tita, “Simula Ngayon” is just an introduction to the many exciting things No Lore has prepared for their avid fans and followers who are keen to seeing more of the duo this year. “We have been playing ‘Simula Ngayon’ to our live gigs this year and first performed it at our favorite nonprofit organization called Pawssion Project in their adoption drive at Ascott early this year. After that, we were able to perform at Rico Blanco’s The Balcony House in Makati.”
BEHIND THE VISUALS AND POETRY
Like their tagline “Music based from Paintings with Poetry,” the brother-sister duo kept true to their creative process of starting from poetry to painting to eventually producing music. Keeping to their No Lore tradition, their key visual for the “Simula Ngayon” single cover is a painting by Tita Halaman who is a full-time artist in the Philippines. Using both oil and acrylic on canvas, Tita executes the visual meanings of the song.
When asked about the meaning behind the painting, Tita generously shares how it “…portrays a sad yet hopeful lady, tightly holding sunflowers. A fallen lady struggling to get up. Face in extreme pain, yet the sunflower symbolizes a soul, seeking for sun. An open mind to learn and brave spirit to start again.”
After creating the painting based on her poetry, these two mediums are now transformed into music for No Lore’s songs. Once the poetry and painting is done, Jerald comes in with his excellent music skills where he and Tita collaborate to produce their No Lore songs.
BEYOND THE HEARTBREAK OF ROMANCE
Most of No Lore’s music goes beyond its intended meaning. If you ask them if there’s anything deeply associated with “Simula Ngayon” whether this could be a place, person, etc. Jerald Juatco simply stress that “Simula Ngayon” can also be related to other significant life transitions, such as moving to a new city, starting a new job, or making a major decision. The beauty of this song is that it can be interpreted differently by every individual, depending on their personal experiences and thoughts.
How do they want their listeners to feel after listening to “Simula Ngayon”? The two have different but intertwined answers :
Tita: To feel the pain and sadness. That it’s okay to let yourself feel that. But the good news is, the song also talks about life after that and the enthusiasm of starting again and learning from mistakes
Jerald: Our goal with ‘Simula Ngayon’ is to take our listeners on a journey that confronts the hardships of life while leading them to a place of hope and inspiration. Musically, we incorporated a deliberate buildup so that the listeners can get a sense of embarking on a journey, starting from the feeling of pain up to the renewed sense of purpose and motivation. With the help of our co-producer Nick Lazaro, we utilized our distinct, haunting sound and adjusted our vocal harmonies to be slightly different from our previous tracks. We hope that this new approach will lead to an effective musical experience that evokes feelings of empowerment and motivation.
THE GRIEF AND HOPE OF NEW BEGINNINGS
Towards the end of the song, you hear them repeating the lines “Gustong mabuhay, gustong mamatay. Gustong mabuhay, gustong mamatay” into a chant that goes into a prolonged fade that engages its listeners to the dilemma of grief and hope that one can experience in new beginnings.
“I must say that one of my favorite lines from this song is “gustong mabuhay, gustong mamatay” It’s such a raw and honest expression that takes you by surprise, especially towards the end of the song. To me, this is what makes the song special.” says Jerald on his favorite part of the song.
While Tita on the other hand prefers the wordplay in one part of the song. She enthusiastically explains the creativity behind the words of “Simula Ngayon” and how it intelligently synchronizes with the melody and tempo of the song.
“For me it’s the word play of “Ako’y magsisimula muli ngayon” in the first chorus then transforms later into “Ako’y magsisisi…” in the second chorus. I’m so glad we get to do that. It’s nicely written for me.” says Tita Halaman.
“Simula Ngayon” is truly a masterpiece in music form that hooks us from beginning to end that certainly pushes us to hit repeat after immersing ourselves in its Tagalog heart-wrenching-lyrical beauty. Listening to “Simula Ngayon” reveals the many ways that we experience heartbreak and we thank No Lore for being able to language it into something we can repeat over and over. Stay tuned to more of No Lore in the next weeks and months. They promised us more of these gems and we are here for it!