London-based, Filipino indie-pop artist Muri releases “Afternoon,” the first official single off her upcoming debut EP.
The track chronicles the adjustments of living in a new, unfamiliar place away from home, something that the Filipino singer-songwriter has dealt with in recent years after deciding to pack her bags and pursue a music career in Europe.
“I was constantly comparing here and home, which created this sometimes dark cloud of bitterness, desolation, and frustration, without really realizing that that was an unhealthy thing to do,” tells Muri, the violinist-singer of Philippine-based indie-folk collective The Ransom Collective. “And it really takes a lot out of you, until you realize you can redefine your own reality for yourself. Afternoon is kind of that journey. Both the dark, and the good that you find when you lean into it differently. Whether that’s realizing there’s something, someone, you’re missing, whatever it is that may have given comfort and is now gone. And then finally learning to see what or who is in front of you that shifts your whole perspective.”
Muri penned “Afternoon” and collaborated with rising French producer Sacha Arnaud, whom she met and connected with in Paris over a cup of coffee. The promising newcomer admits that she reached out to Arnaud after seeing a video of his performance online.
“It was an interesting process because it was our first time working together,” says Muri. “And the process kind of also reflects my nomadic life. We’d exchanged files remotely between France and Italy and had mixed-in-person sessions in Paris and in the countryside outside of Lyon. We must have worked on this song in at least four different locations.”
Complementing her confessional songwriting style with a vignette of soothing soundscapes and luscious melodies, “Afternoon” showcases a more vulnerable side of Muri. The soul-infused, jazzy pop tune documents her bouts with uncertainty as she figures out her own place in a world that gets bigger and bigger by the day.
The Awit Award-nominee reveals, “It feels like also opening my world to listeners: Who I am from the Philippines, and who I’ve grown to be here in Europe. Who we are or can be, when we shed skin, or discover new perspectives. What the music captures at this moment of time, and who I’m collaborating with. Hints of my old identity, and taking on new ones as an artist. This song was written more from the heart than the mind with raw feelings and thoughts.”
Muri’s “Afternoon” is out now on all digital music platforms worldwide.
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