Ebe Dancel gives us the ultimate wedding soundtrack with ‘Habangbuhay’ EP

Ebe Dancel just release "Habangbuhay," his latest EP and first concept-based work, that follows the wedding theme. 

At the listening party and presser for the four-track EP, the OPM legend shared how performing at weddings informed and inspired him and Rico Blanco, his manager who also serves as the producer for the EP to create the soundtrack.

Written and recorded during the lockdown, Ebe and Rico worked only via Zoom, and collaborated with orchestra musicians, who had to record at home. The EP showcases Ebe’s signature sound and lyricism that still comes second to none.

It opens with “Manatili,” which is conceptualized as a wedding’s prayer song.

“As some of you may already know, I suffer from anxiety disorder. I wake up at weird hours, my hands start shaking. This happened maybe two months or one month into the lockdown,” he said.

Ebe applied for a songwriting class by Jim Paredes, and their homework was to “just write. Write anything.”

“Nung una, I started praying. And then ni-release ko na lang siya through song and before I knew it, I started with the chords. It was a plea for God to stay by my side and take care of our countrymen.”

The next track “Tanging Kailangan,” was written "with the intention of it being my future wedding vow," Ebe revealed.

“So instead of promising someone the moon and the stars, you tell the person that life is hard,” he added.

“And sometimes, I’m a victim of my own high expectations, I fail all the time. [But] you're also getting a person who will take care of you.”

The music video was shot in La Union, where Ebe was living at the time. 

The third song “Huling Unang Sayaw,” is for the couple’s first dance. Ebe shared he wrote the first line while he was running, which goes “Isang hakbang; Patungo sa ating walang hanggan.”

The last and title track, the upbeat “Habangbuhay,” is what Ebe and Rico call the “same-day-edit song.”

“Ito talaga, the entire time, I was thinking about all of those couples that I played for.”

Ebe drew inspiration from the latter part of a wedding, “yung may fireworks na, sa reception na, drone shots.”

He announced that there is a lyric video in the works, featuring photos and videos of the couples for whose weddings he performed.

“Habangbuhay” by Ebe Dancel is now out on limited-edition vinyl as the collaborative effort of Widescope Entertainment and Backspacer Records. The launching event happens on October 14, 8 p.m. at 123 Block. — LA, GMA News