WATERWALK RECORDS announces the release of Sambahan, a 10-song series project that contains worship songs from grassroots, church-based songwriters who connected and collaborated through an unconventional ‘lab’ setting via the synergetic fellowship, KONEKOLAB.
Its first single, “MANLILIKHARI,” is a portmanteau of two words, which interestingly allude to that one Being who assumes both roles of a Manlilikha (Creator) and a Hari (King). As WATERWALK RECORDS A&R Jungee Marcelo puts it, “MANLILIKHARI” qualifies God’s sovereignty “over all creation, over everything, over you and me. It’s worthy of worship and adoration.”
Marcelo adds, “The word ‘create’ is very dear to us, and with this song we offer our highest praises to the true Creator, King of everything. “Konekolab Worship aims to cater to the needs of local church congregations for singable worship songs in the local vernacular. Who better to concoct these original worship songs than the very church people in the community. The hope is for each of these songs to become a staple in the church music lineup, as well as in personal times of devotion and prayer.”
“MANLILIKHARI” is co-written with Irving Galang and Mary Ozaraga, both community-based, church leaders whose artistry is balanced by their deep sense of faith. According to Galang, the song celebrates the “awesomeness of our Creator, the ultimate Artist, and our King who did not just create us but also took full responsibility over us by loving us to the fullness of our being, no matter how seemingly small and insignificant we think we are.”
Ozaraga shares that joining this project provided a lot of new challenges for her: writing with a collaborative mindset, and penning a song in Tagalog. “Armed with the Bible, a guitar, and Google Translator, I was able to take on the challenges, greatly inspired by the hard work of Sir Jungee and my team leader, Sir Irving, and was able to witness how God honors faith-fueled hardwork.”
“MANLILIKHARI” is produced by Jungee Marcelo, and arranged with Joshua Capule on piano, Junjun Regalado on drums and percussions, and Ardie De Guzman on guitars. Capturing the Church worship experience with intricate instrumentation and vocal congregational textures, the spiritual anthem reveals a solemn quality to it that soars even as it calms. The expertise of sound engineer extraordinaire Angee Rozul binds everything together with a mix that is divine-like, but filled with so many layers and depth.
The track is sung by Gianne Hinolan, who considers the collaboration a gift. “Seeing how passionate these artists are about communicating the message of God already spoke to me. This is why it was easy for me to say yes to sir Jungee when he invited me to sing the song. As singers, we are expected to be the ones ‘delivering’ our listeners, but here, I was the one who was delivered. Delivered from my doubts and delivered closer to knowing who He is; who God is as our Creator and our King. Wonderful.”
“MANLILIKHARI” is out now on all digital music platforms via WATERWALK RECORDS.
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