LOLA AMOURS DANCE WITH MY MISTAKES IS AN ODE TO SECOND CHANCES

I used to think of shame whenever I made mistakes. Whether I had committed them consciously or not, whether shallow or deep, I always felt embarrassed. Fortunately, these days I no longer put myself in that box. I skim my playlist, pick a banger song, and shimmy my way through it.

- By YRA LUIS GENER GUTIERREZ

I 'used to think of shame whenever I made mistakes.

Whether I had committed them consciously or not, whether shallow or deep, I always felt embarrassed.

Fortunately, these days I no longer put myself in that box. I skim my playlist, pick a banger song, and shimmy my way through it.

Seemingly a mundane moment, internally it felt like a baptism of fire and second chances. This is the very story of Lola Amour's most recent single.

I was listening to it in transit to their record label's office. It was my first time being back in the metro after a long time, and like it has always been, commuting was spent thinking of what I could have done differently in many aspects of my life.

I shifted my attention to their music. It's a groovy pop song that almost made me bop in my seat, but with raw and vulnerable lyrics. I felt comforted and assured that I would be fine. When I arrived at the office, the band entered, waving their hands and flashing their smiles.

We all sat down, and I immediately asked each of them to introduce and share one quirky thing about themselves. Lola Amour is composed of Pio Dumayas (vocals) who makes wood furniture during his days off; Raffy Perez (drums), an anime enthusiast; David Yuhico (keys), who goes to a different room when he's "hangry" to protect his bandmates; Jeff Abueg (saxophone), fond of cooking and baking; and Manu Dumayas (bass), who can do an accurate impression of a crow.

Being with the band was like being transported to high school, where you sit with your barkada over lunch to share endless jokes and talk about failures and relationships.