After bagging the top prize in this year’s Kanto Canta songwriting festival initiated by the Cultural Center of the Philippines, Letrang Norte comes out with a single that showcases their winning formula.
“Kalma” is the new single from the pride of Cagayan dropped in popular digital music stores today, Oct. 22. It is distributed by Widescope Entertainment that signed the group as part of their prize.
The tandem of Ruth Lee Resuello and Louie Kem Anthony Babaran is bound to become a sensational act in the local music scene owing to their unique blend of talents and versatility. Here’s a duo that can write, sing together, and record their own songs, backed by a record label run by music scene and marketing achievers.
“Kalma,’ a bossa nova-R&B fusion number that the two of them wrote, boasts a strong chorus melody sung in a style embraced by today's youth and young at heart. It is a fitting follow-up to their winning piece “Tahanan” which bagged the grand prize last June at the conclusion of Kanto Canta competition that picked a pool of 15 finalists promoting the Filipino language and the country’s indigenous instruments.
The LSS-inducing chorus goes, “Pakalmahin... Damdamin
Louie Kem shared, “Kalma is a song about unspoken love. It is a story of two people secretly in love with each other, but covertly showing their feelings.”
The highly anticipated single is produced by the gifted power duo with significant help from icon Ebe Dancel who was pulled into the mix as A&R manager of Widescope Entertainment.
They recorded at Northern Root Records studio which Ruth Lee puts up, while Widescope’s Vic de Vera and Neil Gregorio sat as executive and supervising producers, respectively.
Ruth Lee, who studied music abroad, noted, “We like to mix and experiment with different genres and unusual chord progressions as we infuse creative melodies and phrasing that we likely never heard before.”
The lady with calming vocals describes herself as “a musician with a mission.” She opened a music tutorial ministry and trained hundreds of kids, with seven successful recital staging to go with. She helps other artists record songs as well.
Louie, on the other hand, paid his dues playing with his band Sunset Sessions that went around birthday celebrations, weddings, and debut parties.
Incidentally, both of them are healthcare workers, with Ruth Lee a registered pharmacist, and Louie Kem, a registered nurse. To say that they’re a couple of singing frontliners sounds jus
As for their history, Louie Kem wrote a Christmas song for the hospital where he works and it’s the piece that Ruth saw on social media which kick-started their team up. Familiarity also helped since they were
While childhood ties may have helped seal the deal, it’s their musicianship that solidified their act. Ruth Lee plays guitar, drums and percussion. Louie Kem handles piano, bass guitar, and even a glockenspiel. Then of course, they can sing one after the other or together so well.
They’ve always been destined to find their true north.
To stream and download: https://orcd.co/