Tunes from simply Suy & others

As is the usual with the local variety of so-called acoustic singers, the strong point must be the voice. Then in the case of female artists, this has to be clear in tone, sweet in intonation and relaxing in effect. Aiza Seguerra and Juris Fernandez are good examples. Or think Princess and Sabrina. That is why they can pare a hard-hitting tune like Poker Face down to the basics and make it sound like a lullaby.

Now should you jar this sound a little or maybe put on the slightest variation and the singer will lose her appeal. Hindi naman siya acoustic, is how Pinoy listeners will react to the change, sticklers as they are to what their concept of how an acoustic artist should sound like. When that happens she might as well set her sights on becoming a singer of the birit diva variety.

That is not likely to happen to this new acoustic artist who calls herself Suy. She used to be one of the lead singers of Natural High in Manila some years ago. And hereabouts, being with a group means you should be able to dish out anything. Suy leaned towards soul, but did everything pop or R&B. When Natural High disbanded, Suy went solo and discovered that her voice is very suited to acoustic recording.

And that is why Suy is now here with her first album. Take note that Suy is all she wants to be known as. Just plain Suy. In fact her CD is titled only Simply Suy. But come to think of it though, her being billed as simply Suy is actually an improvement from her previous recordings. Those were the successful “unplugged” series of albums from Ivory Music wherein the singer was never identified.

Simply Suy by Suy is made up of popular tunes that have become staples in the acoustic market these days. Others have done most of them before but then, they do not sound like Suy. The songs are Words Get In The Way, Every Now And Then, Simple Lang, You’re All That I Need, Lucky featuring Paolo Santos, the guy who took the acoustic music craze to great heights some years ago, The Show, Moonshadow, Could’ve Been, Later, Cry, Everyday I Love You, Lost In Your Eyes and bonus tracks Love Story, Poker Face and I’m Yours.

Still on the acoustic front. Duets seem to have become the preferred variation by local producers for acoustic recordings nowadays. One producer probably thought, there are already too many acoustic girl singers around, so why not try duets. And the others followed suit. As of this writing I have already counted three acoustic CDs by duets available in the stores and they seem to love Lady Gaga’s Poker Face very much.

Acoustic Duets Love X Two features bossa nova artist Raffi and reality show finalist Davey from Viva Records. Cuts are Fallin’ For You, Replay, The Love Song, Whataya Want From Me, Brick By Boring Brick, Try Sleeping With A Broken Heart, If We Ever Meet Again, World Behind My Wall, The Only Exception, Two Is Better Than One and others.

Krissy & Ericka is by the teen-aged sisters Krissy & Ericka Villongco from Universal MCA. The album has already met with some success in Indonesia and Thailand, where it was launched recently and, watch out, it will be released in others soon. It is a mix of pop favorites and originals composed by the talented duo. Up Down Down, Baby Now That I Found You, Game Of Love, He’d Look My Way, Hope For Humanity, Don’t Say You Love Me, Surf’s Up, Runaway, Sisters and Tomorrow.

And Acoustic Duets by unidentified artists from Alpha Music. Cuts are T-Shirt, Paparazzi, Realize, Thunder, Insomnia, Poker Face, You Belong With Me, Roll The Credits, Say It Again, I Hate This Part and others.

Incidentally Davey has also released his first solo CD of acoustic songs. This is Mad About Acoustic from Viva Records. Included are Poker Face, Please Don’t Stop The Music, Jai Ho (You Are My Destiny), Beat It, Thinking Of You, Bubbly, Shake It, My Life Would Suck Without You, Waking Up In Vegas, 21 Guns and others.