Selena Gomez
Selena Gomez may not have the strongest voice in the music biz, but what she lacks in power, she more than makes up for in taste and irrepressible musicality that are made more appealing by the intimacy of the personal experiences she sings about.
Culled from the soundtrack of the second season of the controversial web series she coproduces (“13 Reasons Why,” which began streaming last Friday), “Back to You,” her catchy latest single, wraps up a theme-driven trilogy that follows the story of a woman who refuses to continue walking her faithless, drunken paramour “through the dark side of the morning” (“It Ain’t Me,” with Kygo), then realizes how her experience has taken too much to ease the anger, as she “looks for love in every stranger” (Wolves,” with Marshmello).
Moira dela Torre
In the simmering “Back to You,” Selena sings her heart out as she admits how vulnerable she is in matters concerning her “significant other” and their “unfinished business”: “We never got it right/ Playing and replaying old conversations/ Overthinking every word, and I hate it/ [But] what’s the point in hiding?/ You could break my heart in two/ But when it heals, it beats for you/ I’ll regret it if I didn’t say/ This isn’t what it could be.”
Soundtrack of controversial TV series
The soundtrack is a provocative mix of originals (the ethereal “Lovely,” by Billie Eilish and Khalid) and revivals (Echo and the Bunnymen’s signature song, “The Killing Moon”).
On the local recording scene, a recent release that deserves to be revisited is “Tagu-taguan,” a cut from the solo album (“Malaya”) of Moira dela Torre, the hot-to-trot songstress behind the award-winning Himig Handog ditty “Titibo-tibo” and the soothing revivals of Moonstar88’s “Torete” and Imago’s “Sundo.”
“Tagu-taguan” is a self-penned (with Sarah Bulahan), gorgeously rendered ballad about the heartbreaking risks we take for our shot at romantic bliss.
As the song proves, not every fairy tale gets its Happy Ever After: “Pagdating sa dulo/ Ako’y nasaktan mo/ Sinubukang ipaglaban/ Sigaw ng puso ko/ Ngunit ba’t pipilitin/ Ang ’di naman para sa akin?”