The duo of Letrang Norte, a musical pride of the province of Cagayan, certainly embraces the essence of acceptance and expresses it in cute wordplay and brilliant music-making.
Its latest single, “Tamachine,” should transport listeners to a magical place, with its serenading strains and vocal caresses that very well define the distinctive quality of their musicality.
The track, distributed and published by Widescope Entertainment, gets dropped on popular digital platforms today, Feb. 4.
It shouldn’t be a surprise if it lands on popular playlists of potential hits. “Tamachine” promises to be one good ride. It is a song about moving on from our unchangeable past.
“The perspective of the song is that someone wishes to go back in time to correct past actions or situations,” noted Rebecca Ruth Resuello, the wonderful female voice whose skill set includes her ability to even play the drums.
“Pwede bang itama ang mali/ Bumalik sa mga sandali,” asks the song’s lyric.
It’s a question any mortal with real emotion may have asked one way or another. Besides, a perfect person doesn’t really exist and to make mistakes is simply human.
“Tamachine” is technically a follow-up to Letrang Norte’s debut single “Kalma” released last October. But prior to that, the duo had already showcased its ability to shine in a pool of talents when it was adjudged grand champion in the Kanto Canta songwriting competition spearheaded by the Cultural Center of the Philippines to promote in part the beauty of indigenous instruments.
Widescope Entertainment top execs led by Vic De Vera, Neil Gregorio, and Ebe Dancel couldn’t agree less.
Late last year, they contributed a song called “Ngayong Pasko” to the Yuletide EP featuring the stable of talents under Widescope.
The guy in the duo Louie Kem Anthony Babaran, who plays bass guitar, violin, and well, glockenspiel, said that the group’s new song “speaks about a haunting past that is almost impossible to forget.”
He argued, “The only imaginable thing to do is to go back and change the past. But as the song progresses to the final choruses, the message shifts to the acceptance of the painful past, and that we are not the better person at present, if not for our past experiences that would serve as life lessons.”
Letrang Duo, a musical package from Tuguegarao City, is hands-on when it comes to doing their records, with some help from friends. For “Tamachine” it’s Rojh Dychangco Baquiran who joined the trip.
Outside of music, both Ruth and Louie are healthcare workers. They’re always on the front lines, at best when performing to help people who are going through some pain, physically or emotionally. They claim that music is not just what they do, it is who they are. For that, they always go forward, back to the future in their kind of machine.