Regine, Sarah in noteworthy musical collaborations

VELASQUEZ. Sings about romance and regret.

If you need a musical boost to get you out of the doldrums during Valentine weekend, Sarah Geronimo’s sleek and soulful collaboration with Fil-Am singer-saxophonist Philip Mahoney in the latter’s debut album, “Into The Sun,” is guaranteed to do the trick.

The 11-track collection has a number of notable tunes (“Ikaw,” “Minsan Lang Kitang Iibigin” and an earnest cover of America’s “All My Life”)—but, the title track is a standout because it captures Geronimo’s evolving range as she shifts from full-bodied midregisters to silky, high trills.

GERONIMO. Tuneful song-and-sax treat.

Sarah and Philip’s tuneful song-and-sax treat, “Into the Sun,” recalls the heady thrills of listening to Chaka Khan (“Beautiful”), Yolanda Adams (“I Believe I Can Fly”), Brian McKnight (“Careless Whisper”) and Barbara Streisand (“Music That Makes Me Dance”) as Kenny G accompanies them on the saxophone, in the 2004 compilation, “At Last.”

Radio-friendly

For his part, Gloc-9 has a lot of remarkable collaborators in his hefty “Liham at Lihim” collection, from Rico Blanco (“Magda”) and Zia Quizon (“Katulad ng Iba”) to Marc Abaya (“Tsinelas Sa Putikan”) and Denise Barbacena (“Hindi Sapat”).

But, his “diva moment” in the radio-friendly “Takip Silim” single is hard to ignore, because it has the country’s premier songstress, Regine Velasquez, singing about romance, regret and what could’ve been—if she didn’t let go!