Chillers and scorchers from ‘lovestruck’ Sarah’s significant summer album

Sarah Geronimo

Sarah Geronimo’s maturity and musicality continue to unravel in her latest album, “This 15 Me.” The 11-track collection is, in fact, one of our top musical picks to help defuse the season’s summer scorch and sizzle.

It may not contain oft-rendered covers that would give its 11-track repertoire instant recall, but it has enough luscious and gracefully realized earworms that, upon repeated spins, get better with time. They’re guaranteed to tickle OPM aficionados’ fancy or turn their reluctance into much-deserved appreciation.

That is precisely what gives the “lovestruck” singer-actress’ latest recording its distinctive appeal and chart-scaling boost.
Proof of this is the short time it took for three of its tracks—“Ganito,” “Sandata” and the melodically punchy “Panalangin”-channeling “Duyan”—to reach the top of the charts in quick succession, with good reason.

The album’s recurring theme—about the unpredictable quirks and delectable pleasures we get out of risking life and limb for love—consistently hovers over its lyrical content.

While some of the tracks offer vague insight into the vagaries of romance, Sarah skillfully sings each of them with heartfelt empathy and persuasive gusto. She renders her stream-of-thought musings in “Ganito,” “Baka Sakali” and “Dahilan” with soul-baring flair, each sung with genre-shuttling R&B-and-pop inflections.

Even with its edgy, rock-tinged vibe, the lineup’s odd-song-out album-closer “This Gotta be Love” pays tribute to the exciting but discombobulating ambiguity that keeps lovers in the throes of romantic spell.

Another refreshing element about Sarah’s latest compilation is its ability to pique listeners’ interest even without OPM ballads’ penchant for octave-breaching excesses, as the songstress deftly demonstrates with sassy relish in her English songs—from the easygoing flow of “Feels Good” and the jazzy patter of “My Love,” to the saccharine harmonies of the minute-long “Interlude.”

“This 15 Me” isn’t just significant for its accessible hit-bound numbers—in fact, it gets more of its taste- and growth-evincing punch when it takes a thematic detour from the fun and unexpected perils of loving by way of “Hingang Malalim” and “Tagu-Taguan,” two of the album’s standout tracks.

It’s been a while since we first heard the moody and brooding charm of “Tagu-Taguan,” an LSS (last song syndrome)-inducing number that Sarah performs with noteworthy hip-hop artist JMakata.
The sing-and-rap piece is about troubled souls who can’t “wait to exhale” as they slowly make their way out of the “darkness” in their lives.

Another exquisite number is “Hingang Malalim,” “Tagu-Taguan’s” musical complement, which inspires optimism as it reminds tired and troubled souls not to give up the fight, even when things don’t look so promising: “Kay layo ng nilakad ko/Upang makarating sa kung saan nakatayo/Kailangan mo nang huminto/Parating na ang dapithapon/Manalangin, magpahinga, pumikit/At pagdating ng bukang-liwayway/Babangon, maghahanda/At lahat ay ibibigay muli.”