In times when life feels overwhelming, we always turn to music, whether for a sense of comfort or validation for whatever it is we might be feeling. It’s this very idea of grounding lost souls in today’s fast-paced age that drives Dubai-based Filipino dream synth-pop band WYWY’s debut album ‘Whispers of Existence’.
Released earlier this week, the ten-track album envelopes you in its brooding atmosphere, as the dream duo WYWY (composed of X Alvarez on vocals and xylophone, and Mckie on bass and guitar) paint an intimate, yet all too relatable portrait of solitude and the bittersweet unrest that comes with it. A melancholy study of personal experiences that is haunting in its delivery, each track on the album features soul-stirring lyrics read like a diary entry with X’s delicate vocals that ebb and flow among swelling guitars, drums and synths.
The album opens with ‘Bright Light’, a perfect companion to those dark times life throws our way offering a sense of reassurance through its warm bass crescendos and ethereal echo-y vocals.
On ‘Dead Inside’, a song initially penned by WYWY in 2018, the duo mediates on the dark reality of depression, and the constant feeling of emptiness and helplessness. The track’s gorgeously broody melodies, intersected with poignant bass sounds, and wispy vocals, feel like a comforting embrace to our distressed souls – serving as a reminder that we are not alone.
As the album unfurls, the raw immediacy of ‘Those Days’, with its sombre washout melody and unflinching chorus - which goes, “You keep on loving him and stayed… I’m glad you found your destiny… those days say goodbye” - captures the catharsis one reaches at the end of an emotionally-tasking relationship. It’s like someone removed the filter, removed some of those nagging doubts that keep you stuck in a relationship you know is not serving you.
Then there are tracks like ‘You Don’t Have to Be Nice’ that make your heart race with their indignant tone, carried on by X’s silky smooth vocals and Mickie’s sweeping bass rhythms.
The album also features Filipino lyrics on tracks like ‘Pikit Bulag’ and ‘Lipad’, which evoke a trance-like state the minute you hear it with its compelling music compositions, densely packed with lush reverb and guitar-driven pop hooks.
