A couple of months back, a new voice was introduced to the streaming public with the release of Jam Quijano’s “Bribe My Heart.” The beautifully written and recorded track, produced by Ebe Dancel who discovered the young performer, is worthy of a strong follow-up.
No doubt Jam was up for the challenge with his sophomore digital single “Duyan” which heightened his sentimentality deeply alongside his Filipino sensibility. The song which practically employ the same stellar cast of back-up musicians and supervising record label executives, is dropped in digital stores today, June 25.
“’Duyan’ is a song about longing for the innocent times of childhood,” said Jam about his composition that put his knack for strong hooks and sincere expressions on display.
With Jam’s good sense of rhythm heard through his acoustic guitar-playing, the Tagalog ballad emphasizes once more Jam’s vocal fluidity. It is another premium cut published by Widescope Entertainment where Ebe currently works as A&R manager. The hitmaker happily jumped on board on this project with industry hotshots —Vic De Vera (executive producer) and Neil Gregorio (supervising producer).
Mixed and mastered by the seasoned Dante Tanedo of Wild Grass Studios, “Duyan” also featured Ebe doing some back-up vocals. The musicians featured are also veterans including session player Rommel dela Cruz on fretless bass, drummer Paolo Manuel, keyboardist Jesper Mercado, violinist Chino David, cellist Ted Amper, and guitarist John Apura who also arranged the record.
Jam further shared, “Growing up in the province, families would typically use hammocks for their toddlers. And so, for me, it became a symbol of innocence. That’s what the song is about. It’s a yearning for simpler times.”
The song carries the main line “Panaginip sa duyan ko/ Ikaw lang ang hanap-hanap ko.” Yet, the pre-chorus offers some delectably melodic passage on its own credit with the couplet “Sa panglaw ng gabi litrato mo/ Ang silid ng kahapong naglaho.”
With two heartfelt and softly relaxing numbers steadily placed early on in his career, Jam is projecting this deep personality in the realm of digital music with new-age listeners. The tight connection between his first and follow-up release is a great showcase of his ability to meld his lyricism to his tenor timbre, or for those who knew him well would like to imply. The clarity of his musical purpose in both songs are also in tune with his desire for writing songs, in his own take, “about life, tragedy, and everything between.”
In a beautiful irony, Jam Quijano’s “Duyan” is a heart-rending picture of today’s dependence to technology brought about by the pandemic; keeping things virtual and viral, while some of us yearns for nature’s basic beauty and serenity.
(To stream and download: https://orcd.co/jamquijano-duyan)