Emmy Gonzales’ From Musings To Melodies, Vol. III feels like being handed someone’s diary, except the entries come with acoustic guitar accompaniment. Inspired by her lifelong love of poetry, the 12-track album turns personal reflections into songs about motherhood, friendship, romance, loss and gratitude. It’s warm, sincere and occasionally so earnest that you might want to check whether you’ve accidentally wandered into someone’s anniversary slideshow.
Gonzales isn’t out to change the format of acoustic music. There are no wild studio experiments or spacecraft retrieval guitars. She’s simply using recognizable melodies, soft arrangements and straightforward lyricism.
The first song, “You’re My World,” is a love letter to her kids. Gonzales talks about being a mom and asks herself, “What do I want my kids to remember about me when I’m gone?” even though she’s gone. It’s a lovely thought and the song’s sincere intention of hoping for something more than just the here and now has the effect of tugging at the ol’ heartstrings. I’ll admit to crying a little.
“Love Unconditionally,” one of her standouts and personal favorites, goes to dad. “You’re the reason I knew how to love unconditionally, how to show my strength, how to show my love and I’m your reflection,” she sings. A mother and father do that to you; they stick to you whether you realize it or not.
And then there’s “Two Bittersweet Reunions,” the album’s emotional freight train. Gonzales sings of reuniting with her son after many years and losing her mother on that very same day. That’s such a huge patch of the human experience to cram into a single song and it never would have worked if the spare, dull guitar and string arrangements have tried to turn it into a tearjerker. Instead, the feelings are left to mingle together and it kills quietly.
“Serendipity” is a pleasant surprise. The track is about a random encounter between two people, who initially struck up a friendship, before realizing there’s something else there. A fuller chorus gives the song a boost, allowing it to shine amidst the rest of the band’s mostly familiar acoustic sound.
Gonzales enjoys the fun of “Damn, That Was A Kiss!” The title tells us all we need to know about it, one amazing kiss makes us forget all our doubts. It’s flirty, fluffy and completely unconcerned with having to be deep. Not every romance has to turn into the emotional wreckage of a period drama.
Romance, the more gentle spirit, is alive and well, on “My Forever In A Song” and “It’s In His Eyes.” Both use the songs as vehicles to cling to the possibility of forever love. The second song offers a suggestion that, sometimes, eyes can speak louder than words. Both opt for subtle backing tracks that don’t need to pluck their furthest strum, proving, apparently, that sometimes all it takes is eye contact. Imagine that!
Family and friendship are the main subjects of both “Happy Birthday, Aynslie” and “This Song’s For You, My Friends.” The first reflects on the time and energy that goes into marking a young one’s birthday and the latter pays homage to friends who continue to stick around as the years go by. Both seem like customized gifts to specific recipients, which makes them endearing even if you don’t happen to be one of the recipients.
Memory holds the story together for “Missing You” and “A Memory Entwined.” The first has to do with your loved one, wherever they may be, brought to life through everyday sights and sounds: a voice, a laugh, a goodnight, a rainbow and the night sky. The second revisits a promise-fulfilling day before returning to heartbreak. Both are in agreement: you don’t miss someone because of the big moments. Sometimes it’s the little things.
The final track on the album is “Love And Fairytales,” which concludes the record on a more hopeful note. Though Gonzales has been wounded before, she continues to hold on to the idea that love is warm, slow, sweet and here to stay. The guitars give the track a little forward motion and the positive attitude is satisfying.
From Musings To Melodies, Vol. III requires a little more variance in its tempos and arrangements. The songs all sound similar enough that a length of one hour begins to drag in places. Despite that, Gonzales’s open, sentimental, even slightly campy attitude is what makes this album ultimately charming.
Those songs are reminders to her children, her parents, her friends, the dozens of people who have helped her through life. Not everyone will identify with each dedication, but the sentiment is there. Gonzales makes an uncomplicated argument for music as a reminder of the people we hold dear, the people who are gone and why it’s okay to not make a fuss about it.
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About the Author
A tenured media critic known working as a ghost writer, freelance critic for various publications around the world, the former lead writer of review blogspace Atop The Treehouse and content creator for Manila Bulletin.
