WL//WH NEW MUSIC: WE ARE IMAGINARY “Pinkish Hue”

WL//WH New Music WE ARE IMAGINARY

After celebrating their fifteenth anniversary with the release of last year’s fourth studio album, “Swan Songs for Drifters,” Manila-based We Are Imaginary continues to evolve as a dynamic Indie Rock duo, spearheaded by founding members and brothers Ahmad Tanji (vocals and guitars) and Khalid Tanji (guitars).

With a full-length in their sight, slated for release in both digital and vinyl formats in 2025, the Filipino pair have just dropped the first single, “Pinkish Hue,” a hypnotic guitar-pop track that infuses WAI’s dramatic flair with a blend of Shoegaze and 90s Alternative Rock influences to explore the slow erosion of love, recorded with fresh collaborators Vhall Bugtong ( bass, vocals) Jerros Dolino (drums, tambourine), and Japo Anareta (synths), and paired with the visuals created by Angeli Eluna (Collange Art).

As a gifted singer-songwriter with an affinity for poetic melancholia, Ahmad paints the slow deterioration of romance with a bittersweet tone of a sunset: beautiful, yet fully aware that its end is inevitable. “You’re so far away,” he sings with resigned contemplation, while the thick, shimmering textures envelop the track, underscoring the sense of finality and longing.

Bridging invigorating Smashing Pumpkins riffage and elegant ’80s UK pop introspection, “Pinkish Hue” stumbles through plodding drums, and humming bass throbs, to sway from emotive gushes of droning fuzzed-up riffs laced with agonizing rippling wails, and sparkling sad reflective interludes, washing over aching vulnerable, at times female layered, vocal longing, while melancholic keyed melodies tinkle vibrant shards into the emotional milieu.

A hazy, dream-like lyric video by Angeli Eluna (Collange Art) shades dramatic close-ups of WAI with muted bluish pink hues to evoke the sentiments of the soundtrack. Picture-in-picture squares showcase musical instruments while the backdrop depicts intimate romantic memories to stir the soul with wistful moods injected with angst and fantasy.

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