In new solo single, Ely Buendia heeds the melody’s lead

Ely Buendia —ELY BUENDIA/FACEBOOK

In the music video for Ely Buendia’s new solo single, “Bulaklak sa Buwan,” a YouTube user wrote, only half in jest, that the singer has once again succeeded in racking their brains up.

While his songwriting is arguably most potent when he goes for straightforward narratives or intuitive situational lyrics, Ely is just as keen and adept at crafting something more metaphorical or poetic.

“I like simple songs. I actually prefer it that way and my work is out there for all to see. But I also like symbolisms and metaphors,” he told the Inquirer in a one-on-one interview.

In this case, Ely paints an image of a flower blooming on a desolate land as a motif, which alludes to how the deluge of stimuli and unvetted information leads people into believing something. This passage tells us that much:

“Pa’no makakamtan / Sagot sa katanungan? Tunay na katotohanan / Pagkat marami riyan / Nabubulag na sa mumunting paraiso lamang / Parang nasasabin / Huwag manalangin na may bulaklak sa buwan.”

“While I was reading a book on misinformation, I came across this metaphor about something being as ‘rare as a flower on Mars.’ But instead, I used the word buwan because it sounded nicer to the ears. It’s a metaphor for reaching or believing something that’s sort of fantastical and not quite reasonable,” he said.

‘Sickness of human nature’

This phenomenon is further magnified by the fact that social media has practically become an extension of people’s lives. “On social media, it’s a manifestation of this greater sickness of human nature, wherein you tend to believe anything, any story and any information. And these are sold as the truth, even though they come from sources that are not to be trusted,” he said.

While that sentiment is discernible enough from the aforementioned passage, Ely laid out the rest of the song in a way that could still inspire different readings.

“That’s just how I wrote it, as I saw it. But I wanted it to be open to interpretation. I left room in the lyrics so that it can be taken in the way the listeners want to take it,” he said.

True enough, the comments section of the music video has sparked dynamic discussions, with fans writing thoughtful analyses of the song. “I think it’s fun when your audience is involved. It becomes more interactive… It’s like a painting. You don’t really expect the artist to tell you what his work means,” he said. “You’re there to take it all in and be a participant.”

After all, Ely believes once a song is released, you relinquish part of its ownership to the people. “You don’t own the song anymore; it belongs to whoever listens to it,” he pointed out.

‘Figurative’

“Bulaklak sa Buwan” (Sony Music Philippines) is figurative, but not for the sake of it. The song is the way it is, Ely said because it was the melody that dictated its direction. “I had this really nice melody in my head that I couldn’t stray away from. But the thing is, there were only so many Tagalog words that could fit in the mold or the passages, and they had to make sense,” he said.

In most cases with his songwriting where narrative takes precedence, Ely is more flexible and accommodating of changes to the melodic structure. “When the words are more important than the melody, then I can be more open about bending it. I don’t mind it as much. That’s how it is for me most of the time,” he said. “This was one of the few times I had to put my foot down.”

In terms of sound, the alternative-rock number has echoes of the album “Sticker Happy” and songs for his post-Eraserheads band Pupil. Some fans say the song reminds them of this or that. This shouldn’t be a surprise.

“The simplest explanation is that I wrote it. It’s my style. That has always been my style. It’s not like I consciously try to make the song sound a certain way just to remind people of the Eraserheads, Pupil or whatever. I like fuzzy guitars, modulations—the same basic elements I built my songwriting career on.”

Music video

Ely is typically hands-on with all aspects of the creative process, but the music video he decided to leave in the able hands of the KNYA Collective. “A few years ago, I would have probably been into the conceptualization,” said Ely of the video, which shows him deep in search of a rare flower hidden amid lush greenery.

“This time, I didn’t have a specific idea but I liked their pitch. Since we were working with a relatively small budget, I thought that I would just let them decide on the concept, because they knew best how to maximize the resources,” he said.

“Bulaklak sa Buwan” will be part of Ely’s upcoming solo album, “Method Adaptor”—his first since “Wanted Bedspacer” back in 2000. For the longest time, he didn’t feel there was any need to create new material as a solo artist.

His already formidable body of work seemed already sufficient, he thought. Through his various groups like the Eraserheads, The Oktaves, Pupil and Apartel, Ely’s music took on many different shapes that encompassed pop, rock, jazz, R&B, soul and electronica.

Blend of familiar and new

But in recent years, curiosity got the best of him.

“A part of me didn’t really feel like I should come up with new material anymore because I have a lot of songs with my bands. I didn’t feel the need for it,” he pointed out. “You can say that I was just curious how an Ely Buendia album would be like now. That was the real reason I did the album.”

As it turned out, an Ely Buendia album in 2024 is an earnest blend of the familiar and new including past influences that shaped him into the musician he is today, and current experiences that continue to inform his craft.

“The upcoming album represents what I really am as a songwriter—at least for this time period. There are a lot of callbacks to my previous songs and albums. Naturally, it would sound like my previous work. But it’s different at the same, if that makes sense,” he said.