‘Pangalan:’ by Unique: An Earnest Commentary on Fame and Sanity
Fame has been one of the biggest assets to success for the former IV OF SPADES phenom, Unique Torralba Salonga, who, ever since his tumultuous departure from the band, has been led to his path as a music artist.
The confounds of fame by which his leaving was surrounded never pulled the young artist into throwing in the towel for good and lead a more tranquil life. In fact, he took it upon himself to catapult his name higher with a music career of his own.
In his sophomore album, Pangalan:, Unique never shied away from embracing the fame he has garnered up until this point, as well as the repercussions that came along the way, to tell his narrative as honest as he can be, and paint a counterimage of his reality.
And indeed so, he indulges in fame — all of the emotions bottled up in him — until everything breaks loose. However, in the context of Pangalan:, it is important to look at fame beyond the idea of a catalytic outlet for one’s hedonistic gains, but rather its influence on one’s self because ultimately, Unique’s pondering on his self is what drives “Pangalan:” as a ‘unique’ and introspective experience.
This is heavily emphasized in the first leg of the album, particularly in tracks Dambuhala and Bukod-Tangi wherein Unique presents the two, contrasting folds of himself, respectively one that is the most apparent in the public eye, and one that only Unique knows that he struggles to live with.
Dambuhala, which translates to ‘giant’ in English, for instance, alludes to Unique’s gargantuan reputation in the OPM-sphere, as made more apparent by its braggadocious lyrics, though sung humbly.
Bukod-Tangi, which means ‘unique’ in English, on the other hand, is more self-assuring a tune on the surface, what with its whistling riffs that come in ever so frequently, but it presents Unique in perhaps his most vulnerable yet as he shares what seems to be a feeling of isolation amidst the waves of critical and commercial praise he’s been getting as of late as well as the ocean of fans he’s made throughout his career.
The two abovementioned tracks are also the ones that are reflective of the album art of Pangalan: the most, showing what seems to be Unique dressed in a suit fit for…well, giants; the tiny image of him may represent his depression addressed in Bukod-Tangi.
The dread that fame has brought to Unique is complemented even more by the psychedelic rock-derived Lamang-Lupa, which explores the pressures of fame fated onto him by an otherwordly force — a lamang lupa” — that brought him into a depressive state.
The controversial Delubyo, as rudimentary as it may be for a droney piece ‘flooded’ by the many disjointed vocal samples and sonic wails, it still left many unprepared listeners horrified. And while I don’t fully subscribe to some of the interpretations people have made about this track, it is a small price to pay for such a mesmerizing soundscape (thank God people are giving more recognition to ambient music with this track — it’s still a win, so I’ll take it).
There are more interesting details I’ve left untouched in Pangalan:, but to keep this review concise as many points I’ve already packed in, I’ll leave it for another day and perhaps for another reviewer to touch upon.
Pangalan: is Unique’s boldest artistic venture yet, marking his eureka moment in terms of his sonic signature, and is a perfect successor to his so-so debut album Grandma. It is not “weird” as many are making it out to be, but rather an ambitious step towards the right direction, with the right balance between accessibility and — for a lack of a better word — obscurity.
Korporasyon, even with the underlying interpretations one can make out of it, is a digestible acid-house track one can dance to. Pahinga, as emotionally potent as it is, is an airy somber piano ballad one can cry to while half-asleep.
If there’s one thing holding the album back for me, I don’t think it packed as much as it potentially could have had, but that’s just a testament to how much care Unique has put into his craft that it left me, and many others, wanting for more.
