Just days away from the much-awaited Wanderland Festival, the now two-day affair promises more music, more moments, and yes, even more magic as it takes us on an experience unlike any other. But before it goes down, we list what songs we want to hear from our favorite acts.
Related: Power Through The Long Weekend With This Must-Listen To Playlist
Promising to be even better than last year, Wanderland Festival is already off to a swinging start as it extends the annual coming together of arts and music to a two day affair. Already on its seventh rotation around the sun, the festival is set to offer the #WanderlandCommunity too see and experience their most-awaited international and homegrown acts perform.
With the magic set to happen on March 9 and 10 at the Filinvest City Open Grounds in Alabang, Muntinlupa City, the Globe Telecom and Karpos Multimedia collaboration promises a bevy of artists at Wanderland such as indie rock bands Two Door Cinema Club and The Kooks, Jamaican-American rapper Masego, British EDM artist SG Lewis, and electronic duo Honne along with homegrown acts such as Sandwich, Unique, Reese Lansangan, and Clara Benin.
Apart from the music, which is set to become the soundtrack of our summer, Wanderland Festival will feature world-class live art installations and graffiti from Wanderartist winners: Venazir Martinez, Frances Dandan, Raco Ruiz, and Josh Panaligan. Not to be missed, of course, are an interesting set of exciting booths and activities that are will sure make your Wanderland Festival experience much more magical than you imagine.
Meanwhile, as we wait in anticipation for the magic to happen, we took a trip to a very, very varied musical lane and picked out what tracks we want to hear from the artists. How about you? What songs are you looking forward to see and hear performed live at Wanderland Festival?
Two Door Cinema Club
While we most likely be hanging on to every trill of introductory notes to every song, wondering if they will indulge the Wanderland crowd to more known hits such as What You Know, Undercover Marty, and Something Good Can Work, we have leafed through their most recent album, Gameshow, where the song, Bad Decisions was a standout. Opening up with a sonorous echo of gospel-inspired keyboard playing, the track flexes with ease to a chamber of glittering disco-laced beats that are heightened by lashes of falsettos and an unapologetic chorus (I’ll apologize for everything later/I’m addicted to you/And I make bad decisions). A song to easily sway and bop the head to in the festival moment, Bad Decisions is definitely a far cry from its ominous title.
Honne
A charming act to watch live, Honne manages to capture hearts, wrenching it, all with a cheeky and earnest endearment. It is a process, a journey of sorts in the musical and emotional sense—which, again, will manage to have you swell with emotions you never thought you still had. It shouldn’t make sense, but it totally does live. With many hits to look forward to, especially from their more recent work (Location Unknown, Day 1), older tracks are not to be missed, too. With aching lyrics that cozies up to bright and spirited electronic orchestrations such as Someone That Loves You (You have someone that loves you, I’m waiting/And I’m patient, I’m deluded) and All In The Value (I want you to really want me too/’Cause it’s all in the value/I need you to really need me too/’Cause it’s all in the value), these nostalgia-laden hits will most likely knock the wind out of you, but round it out with a smile. It’s an experience you have to catch live, trust us.
JMSN
Whatever you’re thinking of, or even so much as feeling, JMSN will most likely have already set it to music. With a ridiculously firm grasp on what is real and true, the indie-R&B singer eschews many things we leave in thought and expresses it through rhythm, beats, and lyrics. Smooth and soaring in composition and confidence, his library of music is a veritable trove of tracks that are without even arguing like butter on freshly popped up toast. It is that good. From his appropriately titled album, Velvet, we hope he busts out the rousing track, Talk Is Cheap (Everybody’s got somethin’ to say/But they ain’t never shown me nothing/They all waste their time just stuntin’ on me), as well as the sensual follow-up, So Badly (Did my past take all the confidence I once had?/’Cause you keep saying it’s you and you got a lot on your mind/But that don’t help/I still blame myself). You better be prepared for this rollercoaster of emotions, because it will hit you right where you least expect it and leave you reeling.
SG Lewis
As if coming up for a big breath of air from spending a considerable amount of time underwater, SG Lewis’ Blue is a study of emotions that hinge on the ebb and flow of human hesitation and desire. A rhythmic gasp of lyrics that move (Have I been here before?/You touch me and I fall/I close my eyes, on the horizon me and you/I can see the lights inside my mind are glowing blue) and syncopation that lays on you easy, the track grabs your attention just as much as the previous ones such as Hurting and Sunsets. Washing over like the lapping of gentle waves on the sandbar, Blue finishes off like the permanence of memory gently caressing you when the moment calls for it. Or you know, maybe even in the exact opposite—you decide.
The Kooks
In their intro track to their 2018 album, Let’s Go Sunshine, The Kooks sing: “No pressure/We’re Just having a good time, honey,” which picks up from its steady closing track, No Pressure. As if harking on a summer sojourn that is equal parts easy as the balmy breeze punctured by the sharp smell of dried out foliage, and decidedly aggressive like the seasonal sun, this could very well be an early entry to the summer’s official soundtrack this year. The more upbeat tracks are a trip, such as Four Leaf Clover (And when the night is over/And the drugs are gone/All you’ve got is your four leaf clover/You keep inside your coat) and the mighty energetic Pamela (Oh Pamela/What did they say?/I reached for your hand but you turned and walked away), that are subjected to a good pressure, exciting itself just like a boiling pot of water lets off steam to signal its being ready.
Alina Baraz
With vocals that are at once warm and wispy, the ever-so dreamy Alina Baraz is a perfect match for our tropical address. That said, we are most looking forward to being whisked away to a slowed down daydream of palm fronds dancing against the blue, pink and orange, where the rhythmic lyrics of Fantasy will serenade us (I could be your escape/Take you to a place/Where there’s no time, no space). With a cold glass in hand and an introduction to our summer’s best, we are also looking forward to hearing more current offerings such as the Khalid featured Electric and Floating.
Masego
Appropriately listed on Day 2 of Wanderland Festival, the contemporary, genre-bending Masego definitely has to bust out the ultra-chill bop, Sunday Vibes, which perfectly encapsulates what he refers his music as—trap, house, and jazz. An exposition of a very sexy saxophone-led musical narrative, the track is comforting as it is smooth, a definite soul-stirring track for sure. In his 2018 drop, Lady Lady, other must plays include the titular track (Maybe I should say the things I type online/In real life) and Tadow (Does it come within?/Does it come run out?/I don’t know/She’ll just have ’em runnin’), which are bound to get you grooving in one way or another.
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