"It's like he paints an ideal world they're—we're—all still working to strive towards." —Exactly! Fun story about my love for TJ's music. I've been a listener of Munimuni since I was in college and I heard the news that TJ will be leaving the band already. Probably because of my growing detachment to my passions due to my health, his music never reached me the past pandemic years. For someone who always say she can't live without music, it did feel like I was barely living at all. Anyway, I attended a gig last Feb—TJ, Shirebound, and Autotelic. I was mainly looking forward to the latter two, but when TJ played, his voice felt so familiar. In my mind I was thinking he must be a Munimuni fan too, but I was really captivated by his music. Days after, I finally decided to google him, and imagine my (not so) surprise when I found out TJ is actually Toneejay... bakit hindi ko man lang na-realize? hahaha! But at least I can say my music preference is consistent 😂
Wow this was long, I hope you don't mind. But I definitely agree about the magic and idealism behind his songs, and how despite it not being a usual hugot album, it hits just as much. Especially in his album Aurora, what I love most is his ability to write with purity and hope about all kinds of love, as if he's inviting you to just keep loving too. Siguro lumabas din kasi yung paternal love with his songs, pramis and (I think) Aurora itself, kaya iba rin yung kurot sa puso. 🤍
PS: But I also think it was meant to find me at the right time. Now that you mention that how you listen to an album can affect how you perceive it, I wonder. Had I heard his songs in the pandemic years, I may not have appreciated them as much as I do now. I'm almost sure he's my top artist in Spotify for this year haha
First, I don't mind long responses! I love them—they tell me my writing has resonated.
But very true about the context. I wrote in Playlist #29 about the Beths, a band that I have always liked, but felt much, much closer to after "Expert in a Dying Field" pretty much articulated my post-break-up feelings. The right song at the right time, always.
I'll admit I use "how you perceive the music depends on your context at a given time" as a crutch—somehow the more objective music writers can float above it. But—especially in Filipino songs, I feel, because we can relate to it more due to language and all-around familiarity—we cannot remove our personal and how it plays with their personal, as laid down in song. Some songs will be technical marvels, but that spark will always send things off to another level.
"It's like he paints an ideal world they're—we're—all still working to strive towards." —Exactly! Fun story about my love for TJ's music. I've been a listener of Munimuni since I was in college and I heard the news that TJ will be leaving the band already. Probably because of my growing detachment to my passions due to my health, his music never reached me the past pandemic years. For someone who always say she can't live without music, it did feel like I was barely living at all. Anyway, I attended a gig last Feb—TJ, Shirebound, and Autotelic. I was mainly looking forward to the latter two, but when TJ played, his voice felt so familiar. In my mind I was thinking he must be a Munimuni fan too, but I was really captivated by his music. Days after, I finally decided to google him, and imagine my (not so) surprise when I found out TJ is actually Toneejay... bakit hindi ko man lang na-realize? hahaha! But at least I can say my music preference is consistent 😂
Wow this was long, I hope you don't mind. But I definitely agree about the magic and idealism behind his songs, and how despite it not being a usual hugot album, it hits just as much. Especially in his album Aurora, what I love most is his ability to write with purity and hope about all kinds of love, as if he's inviting you to just keep loving too. Siguro lumabas din kasi yung paternal love with his songs, pramis and (I think) Aurora itself, kaya iba rin yung kurot sa puso. 🤍
PS: But I also think it was meant to find me at the right time. Now that you mention that how you listen to an album can affect how you perceive it, I wonder. Had I heard his songs in the pandemic years, I may not have appreciated them as much as I do now. I'm almost sure he's my top artist in Spotify for this year haha
First, I don't mind long responses! I love them—they tell me my writing has resonated.
But very true about the context. I wrote in Playlist #29 about the Beths, a band that I have always liked, but felt much, much closer to after "Expert in a Dying Field" pretty much articulated my post-break-up feelings. The right song at the right time, always.
I'll admit I use "how you perceive the music depends on your context at a given time" as a crutch—somehow the more objective music writers can float above it. But—especially in Filipino songs, I feel, because we can relate to it more due to language and all-around familiarity—we cannot remove our personal and how it plays with their personal, as laid down in song. Some songs will be technical marvels, but that spark will always send things off to another level.