It’s heartening to see when the good and genuinely deserving ones are finally getting some recognition for the hard work that they’ve turned in. And in the world of Pinoy pop, it’s good to know that it’s not always about the trendy K-pop-inspired boy or girl group that’s getting all the attention. One such music act is Amiel Sol, an acoustic guitar-toting songsmith who has been making music for years now, steadily building a name as a singer with songs worthy of a listen. 

Amiel Sol started in 2020 with lilting, bare-bones acoustic guitar-driven tunes such as “Back Of My Mind,” “You Make It Right,” and “Gunita.” These songs have that storyteller vibe to them, when coupled with Amiel’s smooth, falsetto-ish voice, makes your ears want to tune in to what he’s crooning about, which mainly deals with relationships that have not gone the way it was designed or about lingering doubts and yearnings about love and life.

Amiel Sol’s sound has matured throughout the music that he’s released over the years. His simple acoustic arrangements have given way to a more fleshed-out ensemble sound, but he never lost the intimate quality ingrained in his songwriting. His audience has responded kindly, giving Amiel a breakout hit of sorts with “Ikaw Lang Ang Patutunguhan.” With more than 10 million listens this particular Amiel Sol tune reached organic growth status (as they say in the biz) relatively hype-free with just some good ‘ol label push from Amiel’s home label at Ivory Music. And the healthy buzz around Amiel Sol continues with his latest single titled “Sa Bawat Sandali.” Here, Amiel sings about having someone as a veritable safe harbour in the tempest as he croons in the chorus: “Kapag magulo na ang mundo, ikaw ang payapang hinahanap-hanap ko / tumakbo ka rin patungo sakin, kapag bumibigat na ang iyong dibdib / Ikaw ay sasalubungin.”  It’s slow yet grooving but has an urgency to it. And just several weeks in, the single already has three million listens to it, which validates Amiel Sol in a way. It took some time, but he’s getting there. 

David Lynch passed away last Jan. 15 at the age of 78. Lynch is a creative zen master and a prolific creator of film that also extended into music. Like his masterpieces, “Eraserhead,” “The Elephant Man,” “Dune” and “Twin Peaks,” which set the bar for the eclectic, surreal, and oddly beautiful, David Lynch’s leanings into music also reflected the same atmosphere that the director injected into his films.

And while Lynch is not a musician per se (it was said he played the guitar with a unique style), he was a collaborative spirit that spilled over into music. It would be interesting to see the extent of how Lynch created it, but one wouldn’t be fair to think that he was all about the vibe. Listen to “A Real Indication” by Thought Gang for some bluesy, noir-like spoken poetry, ditto “Backseat” with Chrystabell, or just straight-up lounge jazz on “Josie and Truman” and on the dreamy, edgy western feel of “Pinky’s Dream” with Karen O for a sampling.  

There are a lot of creatives out there with more output than Lynch, but only a handful did it with style as he did. Now, this singular talent has gone, and some wannabes will probably come up and copy David Lynch’s style. To that, I say, let ‘em! God knows the world lost a gargantuan talent. And somebody will probably need to fill in the Slack.