Surprise, surprise: “Cebu” in Julia Fordham’s new song

“I’ve been to Moscow, I’ve been to Glasgow, I’ve been to Fiji and Cebu…and all I want to do is be with you,” Julia Fordham’s luscious voice croons on the bouncy track, “I Want To Stay Home With You” from her latest album, China Blue. (That makes the pop jazz impressario the second high-profile international artist to include Cebu in a song, next to Enya with her “Orinoco Flow.”) 

The British singer-songwriter couldn’t remember exactly how many times she has been to Cebu, in the same way she has lost count of the times she has staged concerts in the country since she first came in 1994. But Cebu, shared the now California-based Julia, reminds her of the place where she grew up, which is in England’s south coast and is also close to a beach.

Julia was in town recently to headline Ayala Center Cebu’s annual Moonlight Serenade. She was also the latest of a string of international acts brought by Ayala Malls to Cebu to entertain loyal shoppers. Julia was accompanied by daughter Marley Rose, who from the moment they landed at the Mactan Cebu International Airport gushed about finally coming to the place that her mother has sung about.

While all sorts of very intense feelings seemingly spill out of every Julia Fordham song, she is actually light-hearted, charming and quick to laugh in person—this we discovered via a presscon held at Shangri-La’s Mactan Island Resort and Spa two days before her concert on February 13 at Ayala Center Cebu’s South Surface Parking area.

She chatted about the stories behind her songs, and is amazed at how these songs, many of which are already two-decades-old (she burst into the music scene in the late 80s), have not faded into oblivion and are, in fact, favourites for re-interpretation.

She has heard local artist Nina’s version of “Love Moves in Mysterious Ways,” and would love to hear Jaya, whom she said did a cover of another early song of hers. She would love to collaborate with the two should the opportunity arise.

Speaking of collaboration, she also wants to work with fellow British artist, Amy Winehouse, the biggest winner in the recently-concluded Grammy Awards. “We were supposed to work on a project together before, but suddenly she exploded in the music scene and got busy. But I already saw that coming,” revealed Julia.

Julia turned introspective when asked where she thinks she is in the industry right now, after years of critical acclaim and continued patronage, “I feel blessed and fortunate to have started when the recording scene was still at its heyday. I’m very fortunate to have managed to coast along…and sustained my career.”

Julia is well-loved in the Cebu, according to Ayala Center Cebu’s Joy Polloso, because even before the event was publicized, they were already swamped with inquiries about possibly bringing the singer here. During the concert, I was also surprised to hear Julia acknowledging in the audience several fans that came all the way from Singapore.       

The Ayala concert started on schedule, but with yours truly unfortunately detained by work, I had not seen the concert in its entirety. Still, I was lucky to have made it in time for Julia’s rendition of her arguably most requested song among Filipinos, “Love Moves in Mysterious Ways.” The crowd, as if on cue, reacted excitedly the moment the first few bars of the song streamed in.

While it was easy to like Nina’s sultry cover, I was blown away by the original version of Julia (which by the way is one of the very few songs that she didn’t write herself, but did for a movie starring Demi Moore). There’s a transcendent quality to it, as she packed some power and astounding vocal styling into the song, underscoring it perfectly that love is, indeed, one powerful emotion—powerful enough to move you into doing things that at first seem impossible. But that’s just me thinking after getting appropriately carried away during Julia’s concert on the eve of Valentine’s Day.

Backed by an all-Filipino band, she performed other hits like “Invisible War” and “Girlfriend,” et al, plus emotive singles from her latest album.

Julia reckoned that why Pinoy audiences can relate to her songs is because we are innately and shamelessly romantic. But then again, it’s no mystery that there really isn’t any defense against heartfelt music.