Monthly Picks | June 2025
Sining Shelter
KIM'S PICKS
Singapore Dreaming
ALBUM | Subsonic Eye
"Nasaan na ba ako?" Tinutugunan ng Subsonic Eye ang tanong na ito sa isang literal, environmental, sikolohikal, at pilosopikal na lente sa pamamaraang may pag-alala pa rin sa kausap. Ilang kilometro man ang distansiya namin, naiintindihan ko ang pananaghoy nila sa kanilang kinaliligiran at kalikasan. Ang liit ko.
Addison
ALBUM | Addison Rae
Ramdam na ramdam ko lang ang pagiging babae ko rito (bagamat nasa "sari" ako sa salitang kasarian). Plus points pa dahil karamihan sa mga nagproduce ng mga tracks nito ay babae rin. Gusto ko lang gayahin si @fr00dle sa pagdama sa sarili niyang katawan kapag sinasayaw niya iyong Diet Pepsi, pero sa totoo lang, malalapat talaga ang sayaw niya sa lahat ng mga kanta rito.
GABY'S PICKS
Sleeping In
SINGLE | The Radio Dept.
Best walking song I've had in a long while. Easy and breezy.
boy
SINGLE | (e)motion engine
Raw, unencumbered buildup of both sound and story. Stellar vocals! Gives me energy like no other. If this song ends up being my most played of the year I would not only be unsurprised but also hyped out of my mind.
TONCHI'S PICKS
girl just quit music already
SINGLE | Petalbyte
Music is Petalbyte's sword and she cuts through the doubt all artists feel that "we're not made for this" with confidence. Fusing huge producer EDM synths with powerful guitars and triumphant hookcraft, this little single has an infectious surplus of heart and bite. I'm thoroughly inspired :^D
BADモード
ALBUM | Hikaru Utada
Even 23 years into one of the most important solo careers in all of Asian music, Hikaru Utada still finds ways to grow, shift, and express. A masterclass in pop songwriting restraint sonically, and simultaneously a masterclass in pop songwriting sincerity lyrically. I'm thoroughly inspired :^D
Underneath Your Jagged Lines
EP | arkyalina
A crazy strong opening solo statement. Resistant of being in the background, arkyalina's voice hovers like a cloud over shuffles, breakbeats, and guitars: ultimately grappling with the ennui of feeling different from everyone else. I'm thoroughly inspired :^D
HABIBI'S PICKS
Divisions of Labor
EP | codeseven
I start my journey building a path that begin from the branches and the leaves, far from the roots that besiege the earth and feeds its new births and branches with what it has nourished and built on its own. As I move my way backwards, I've stumbled across Poison The Well and hungered for something that can evoke the same state I experienced in "Slice Paper Wrists". As my knife carves through the bark and dig into its roots, I find tendrils upon tendrils interlinked with each other, distinct yet feeding into the same tree. In a stone left unturned hidden beneath the loam, there is codeseven and its "Division Of Labor". Division Of Labor takes the same intensity of its contemporary emo-influenced hardcore acts (i.e. current labelmate "hopesfall") but is unafraid to lean deeper into the "emo" sound of the 90s, in its midsection revealing reminiscience of Mineral, Sunny Day Real Estate, and Hum. This is a record I absolutely adore and wish that there were more of, but unfortunately, after this release, codeseven have switched to a more alternative approach, yielding its hardcore armaments and adopting the space rock of its Hum lineage. Either way, I am glad this record exists even if it stands alone. It stands as an early testiment for the intersection of multiple close-but-distinct tangential streams birthing something new.
Immortalized by Poetry
EP | Ghost Stories
I've mostly been taking a retroactive journey through developments in emotional hardcore/metalcore primarily because of this release. Ever since I've first listened to it in the first quarter of the year, I have been obsessed. Dynamic, raw, and cathartic; this EP harkens to the sounds of late 2000s-early 2010s emo but detaches it from the the twinkle of the midwest, in its place an honesty tandem with rage. Very electrifying release that makes me look forward to this shift in the status quo from the more hardline midwest emo styles to a more hardcore/metalcore grit. This release will cement this band and immortalize its name in the scene; to the youth that are in a constant state of precarious flux, and to the elders sentimental over their own days.
If This Letter Leaves Candlelight
EP | Rosasharin
This one was primarily a surprise to me. I used to actively shit on "mall emo" but find myself enjoying more of its motifs and characteristics popping up here and there in the newer crop of emo bands post-Tiktokification-Of-Vs-Self. From here though, I understood the appeal of the style, still retaining some of it's post-hardcore roots while opting for a more melodic approach and engaging with pop punk for its synthesis. Rosasharin remains primarily a post-hardcore album though, with a visual and sonic aesthetic that is scientifically deliberate—one that is evocative of side-swept bangs that reek of hair spray, spiked bracelets and studded belts that hang loose from wrists and waists, and Thursday shirts nicked from the mall outlet. Their continuity is a continuity that I've often regarded as bastardized from "the one true lineage", yet here it stands tall and proud, equally emotional and intense. Really, truthfully, maybe the real emo was the friends we've made along the way.
RIANN'S PICK
HALICALI BACON
ALBUM | HALICALI
As a fan of the eccentric and cutesy sound of Japanese Indie such as the likes of the DOOPEES, Cibo Matto, and Kero Kero Bonito, it was about time I listened to one of the greats. It was the album preview video shared on Twitter that pushed me to give it a listen because of how diverse they picked their sound for their debut album. A lot of the songs here are completely different from the others and yet they all mesh well together. You have their happy energy in songs like Otsukare Summer, clean flows in Style Style and Candy Hearts, and jazzy sounds in Conversation of a Mystery. There's a lot more to unpack here and I suggest everyone to listen to HALICALI BACON if you want 42 minutes of a good time.