by Robo Rat
Title: Embrace.
Artist: Urbandub
Released: 2005
Urbandub was formed in March 2000 when the band came together. Vocalist Gabby Alipe, bassist Lalay Lim and guitarist John Dinopol are all Fine Arts Majors. All production and recording for their 2005 album entitled "Embrace" was done in Backyard Home Studio in Cebu, where the Studio was literally a house. They find it hard to compose in Tagalog, Cebuano or Visayan which is why all their songs are in English.
The deep south is irrefutably one of the best reservoirs of untapped but exceptional talents, and Urbandub, along with the equally rocking Cebu-based band Shiela and the Insects definitely tops my list.
Urbandub’s third full-length album (but their first with a Recording label), Embrace, comprises of songs that resonates musical maturity with each progression of the notes.
Track number 2, Alert The Armory is one of the most impressive songs in this album. The heavy guitar riffs will surely triple one’s pulse rate, and the socially relevant theme reverberates during the part in the chorus where Gabby Alipe shouts, “Mayday! Mayday!”
First of Summer, on the other hand is an alternative number that borders on college rock and is a very fun song to listen to during road trips to sing along with your barkada.
On the somber side, songs of the emo genre are omnipresent in this album and most notable are The End of Something, and Endless, A Silent Whisper.
It seemed that the songs were written with the act of embracing as the central image and the chief songwriter usually employs metaphors (“Paints the streets in blood red”) and irony (“Is this the beginning of our last dance?”) that conveys the message effectively.
Even the album sleeve’s design shows the different stages of metamorphoses through close up photographs of a cocoon.
My decree: Once you’ve embraced this album you’ll never let go.
Titik Pilipino Album Review by: Cheryl Tamayo
Number of Tracks: 12
01. An Interlude Between Closeness
02. Alert The Armory
03. Frailty
04. First Of Summer
05. When Heroes Die
06. Reveal The Remedy
07. The Arsonist
08. Endless
09. A Silent Whisper
10. Safety In Numbers
11. A City Of Sleeping Hearts
12. The End Of Something
Label: EMI Philippines
Album credits:
Produced By: Urbandub & Kerryl Demeterio
All Lyrics By: G. Alipe
Songs Arranged & Performed By: Urbandub
Mobile / WAP site
