Rice Lucido - Pahina Uno EP REVIEW

Rice Lucido, a 21-year old singer-songwriter and multi-media artist, offers some of the most intimate and ambitious performance in her debut EP aptly titled, “Pahina Uno”. First of all, I would like to commend the beautiful atmosphere that this EP established from start to finish; it was something that would grab the listener’s attention and it adds up to what Rice Lucido's emotion in each song. The added layers of piano, cellos, violins, and the extensive use of the harmonica in this EP filters throughout flawlessly. Each track doesn’t sound dull, neither it sounds predictable. "Pahina Uno" discusses themes that are longing in a relationship, destiny in a relationship, and unity in a human relationship etc etc. Something that the most typical folk singers talk about and I myself wouldn't talk about those types of music that often in this blog but I was glad that I liked this project the first time hearing it, and here it is, enthusiastically liking every track in this record.

The only complaint that I had when listening to "Pahina Uno" was its length. "Pahina Uno" is too short. As a fan of her style but not entirely the whole genre of it, I would love to hear her sing in this type of music some time in the near future. Rice completely embraces the power of folk music. She doesn't impair the song with just an acoustic guitar and a basic A-B-A-B structure. Her potential of composing a decent amount of instrumentation in a song and her voice was put on the spotlight in this project.

Rice Lucido's earlier works felt like they were just one of those songs that had a female singing over an acoustic guitar like most local singer-songwriters today. However, there was one track that did standout to me on her Soundcloud profile. There is this track titled, "Heto Nanaman", which the song talks about the feeling of isolation and the feeling where no one is going to help you. That track was equally powerful and engaging.

That being said, tracks like "Ulan" and "Seventy Seven" are masterfully done in both execution and production standards. Those two tracks that I've mentioned, they were beautifully toned and they were done just right.

The only good thing about Rice Lucido's characteristic that makes this EP standout from the rest of her covers and unreleased material is the subtle elements of instrumentation. But while the rest feels so-so and may come across as something that I would listen to when it's raining or when I'm feeling in love, Rice Lucido ultimately brought a solid EP.

Hope no one sleeps on her "Pahina Uno", you guys should give it a listen or two!

SUPPORT THE ART & THE ARTIST: https://ricelucido.bandcamp.com/album/pahina-uno-ep