MANILA, Philippines—Witnessing the ever-so-charming Darlene up on the stage again will no longer be just a fantasy to her fans as she makes her debut as a soloist with the single “Daydream”, a lulling and blissful song about the complexing beauty of falling in love in its early stages.

This marks her return in the P-Pop scene after departing from her former group, YGIG, last 2023 for health reasons. As she now comes back stronger and better than ever, she appears to be ready to further foster her huge potential to capture the hearts and attention of the public by first showing them a side in her artistry that she hasn’t unveiled before.

This is Darlene Now

Image courtesy of Universal Records/ SBTown

From being initially recognized as a powerful singer in The Voice Kids PH Season 1 through her audition song “Girl On Fire”, to exuding a fierce presence when she was still in YGIG, and now displaying a fresh image as a soloist, Darlene proves that she doesn’t want to keep herself in a single genre bubble throughout her career. There’s great ambition evident with the now 19-year-old artist in the manner in which she expresses her desire to be versatile, not wanting to limit herself in only one category.

At a media conference held a week after her official re-debut, she shares the experiences that led her up to this moment and the process that went along in crafting her latest solo song. When asked about the development of her track, Darlene says that she was the one who concocted the lines we hear from the bubbly tune, while for the sound and the beats, she’s grateful to have worked with Korean producers who produced and helped her with it. Even though she hasn’t experienced romantic love firsthand, she made sure to get all the inspiration and idea can have within reach in the making of its lyrics.

Preparing for her return, there were a lot of things she had to consider. “Tinry ko po ulit i-gain yung stamina ko by doing cardio workouts,” she mentions, adding that in the case of her voice, she made an effort to avoid eating sweets and cold beverages.

A lot of curiosity rose about Darlene’s friendship with her former members as well (all of which she endearingly pertains to as her ‘ates’), prompting her to assure that they still remain in contact and that the support she gets from them is still enormous as ever. She even reveals that they attended her senior high school graduation, a clear indication of their continuing lovely relationship.

Moving forward, as she ventures to the path of a solo career, Darlene wants to work her way up slowly, aiming to find success in the local field before branching out to bigger goals so that she’ll be able to savor the entirety of the process.

At the moment, Darlene is overseen by SBTown’s CEO Geong Seong Han, guided by Adelaide Hong, the South Korean trainer at SBTalent Camp, and co-managed by Kathleen Dy-Go of Universal Records.

Watch full video here:

Discover “Daydream” across digital streaming platforms such as Spotify, Apple Music, and YouTube.