Four years after he took you to “Your Universe” via his solo debut, former Rivermaya frontman Rico Blanco now brings you to another dimension and back with “GalactikFiestamatik,” his highly-anticipated second album. “The title IS the genre,” shares Blanco, and a journey through the songs will give the listener a better idea of what he means.
Between the barrage of Ati-atihan tribal drums and percussions, the beeps and screeches of analog synthesizers, the unlikely instruments in Blanco’s repertoire (a melodica, a lyre, a violin, a gigantic cowbell), and countless ‘found’ instruments (“There’s pots and pans, a section from my neighbor’s abandoned rooftop gutter, metal tubes and other instruments I got from the hardware store…”), this mad scientist takes one on a festive adventure that seems ethnic, folk, punk, and futuristic, all at once, with Blanco’s signature songwriting as the centrepiece.
Performed and recorded by Blanco entirely by himself in his studio attic, the album celebrates a sound that is raw, imperfect, and deeply personal. “I wanted this album to sound more abrasive, more flawed than correct, production-wise,” a first for this notorious perfectionist. “I wanted you to feel things, get annoyed by things, be distracted by one sound, fall in love with another…”
The carrier single, “Amats,” an eerily compelling song of infatuation that’s borderline stalker-ish, assaults you from the get-go. Blanco reveals, “’Amats’ was originally written for a band, major chords, pop rock—the kind of song you’d expect from me, melodic, sweet…then I wondered, what if I make it dark, talagang amats?” It becomes more dangerous…[to make] you feel on the edge, uncomfortable. I wanted it to be in your face, like a stalker you want to get rid of.”
Bold, bizarre, and yet strangely familiar, get a sneak peak of Rico Blanco’s brand new album via his first single “Amats” which will go on air on Monday, June 4th. Log on to his page for more updates on Rico Blanco.
