Kwentong Hingalo and other Pinoy pop tidbits

More on this week's Pinoy Pop Playlist (on Spotify) where the following local acts are sitting pretty waiting for you to lend them your ears. Spoiler alert: they’re all worthy of your time.

- BY PUNCH LIWANAG

Starting with the Jan Roberts and Shirebound collaboration on the neo-folk styled “Hingalo,” where lilting singer-songwriter musings hiding behind poetic lyrics and indie folk sounds converge.

Roberts of “U-Belt” fame is on brand with this soothing and contemplative acoustic ballad. The Albay native previously scored hits with his own “Sagip” and “Kalimutan” and he continues the streak with this track.

Meanwhile, the band moniker Shirebound definitely seems Tolkien-inspired. But no tales about hobbits or errant rings of power can be heard on “Hingalo.” Instead Shirebound combines their indie-folk stylings with Roberts’ already non-pop persona and the effect is dreamy and novel in a good way.

These days, the sounds of bands like Cup Of Joe, Sugarcane, Dilaw, Earl Agustin and the like are the norm rather than the exception anyway.