In the age of music streaming platforms, discovering reon was inevitable. The Ormoc-based bedroom pop duo rose to fame in 2020 when the world was in lockdown and the link between artists and music fans through music apps was at its strongest.
For a year, singer-songwriters Noah Glynn Alejandre and Reanne Julia Borela released song after song, eventually garnering thousands of monthly listeners here and abroad. This time around, reon presents their fans with their much-awaited collection.
Ever since they started, reon shared nothing but music that connects on a deeply human level. “Amazing things are deemed to be unexpected,” Noah said, talking about how reon came together. “It started as a couple of friends planning to do a cover which didn’t really come through and then it took another year before the idea of forming the duo band took place.” “It just so happened that we are both passionate about making music. Music became our escape from reality so becoming a duo wasn’t such a bad idea to do for fun,” Reanne shared. “Music has been a part of me ever since I was a child. I started singing at our church during Sunday schools and in our school even though I was a shy kid. When I grew up, music basically became my outlet of letting people know how I feel. I’m a very emotional person and sometimes I feel like nobody could understand me. But listening to music comforts me in a way that it helps me understand that I’m not the only person who’s feeling this way. Music really molded me into who I am today. It helped me connect with a lot of people, made a lot of friends from it, opened a lot of opportunities and I’m very grateful for that.”
The duo’s latest ep ‘sentiments’ drops on the heels of yet another year in quarantine. Using this time to get creative while inching back to our daily lives, reon charged up on their artistry. The result is an EP that is more inspired than ever, especially with international producer XERXES BAKKER of The Sound House at the helm. “The pandemic made all of us try out new things, and I guess we weren’t an exception to that. I, as the producer of the band, tried a lot of sounds which we may potentially make into songs, varying from jazz, folk, pop and soul and many more,” Noah mused. To which Reanne added, “All throughout the pandemic, we have been experimenting on different sounds for reon. From happy to sad songs, from English to Tagalog. We’re still figuring stuff out up until now but I can tell that we have improved a lot ever since.”
‘sentiments’ found Noah and Reanne intensifying their effort to write with more meaning. On recording the ep, Reanne said, “We wanted to go to a different approach for our EP. Something different from the usual happy vibes that we had. So, when I was recording for our upcoming EP, of course I got quite emotional because of the meaning behind the songs and the stories we created.” “It’s always fulfilling having to hear what you wrote a couple years back in your college dormitory and having to listen to the fully produced version of the songs,” Noah expressed.
Preceding the EP, reon have already released ten singles. I Really Like You has the most plays, clocking at over a million on Spotify alone. But for Reanne, what she would consider to be their first successful moment was winning PhilPop 2020 with Suyo. “The first successful moment for reon was definitely our Philpop win. Being the Grand Champion for PhilPop 2020 still feels surreal for me and I am still super grateful to have reached that point,” she shared. For Noah, it’s the connections that they’ve made so far. “We’ve been blessed enough to win competitions like PhilPop, but the moment I would call successful for me would be the times when I randomly catch people who I do not know, singing to our songs, may it be at a live gig in a local restaurant, and even during online live events.” On seeing the favorable responses to their music, Noah admitted, “I’ve always been grateful to the people giving their time to listen to what we’ve been making and it always cheers us up to do more,”
“It’s surprising to know that our songs have already reached hundreds of people from different countries and the fact that they love what we’ve made is just surreal,” Reanne expressed. “I’m still amazed by it to be honest because people from our local region Ormoc hardly get recognition. I’m just happy to know that our songs have gone through amazing heights, where it created a lot of friendships, memories, and even to self-healing through different individuals out there.”
On sentiments, reon brooded more about human connection and how it works. A move seemingly inspired by their current status. That new sense of growth teems right out of the debut EP’s songs. While still keeping the sense of warmth and simplicity that ran through their previous works, everything sounds bolder. Because of its theme and the time that it was created, Noah explained, “I guess spending too much time locked up in my room alone made me, personally, write these things. The pandemic really did bring out the words I could never normally write if it was a normal day.” “Some of our songs are based on our own feelings and experiences. Some are also just products of our imagination — what we see from movies, shows, from our friends or other people’s stories,” Reanne added, hopefully giving their listeners comfort that they’re not alone in exploring emotions.
Also accompanying the EP release, reon also just finished creating music videos for their songs “A Place I Could Call Home” and “Back to the Times”, both directed by Mandaue Nights’ Karl Lucente. These two videos go hand in hand and lean toward Filipino folklore that we typically hear whenever we go to the province.
reon’s sentiments EP is now available on digital music platforms.
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