MANILA, Philippines—Multi-talented Filipina musician Eunice Gatdula, better known as huhsmile, releases her brand-new single “Naninigurado,” which she describes as a song about the perils of overthinking.
“Naninigurado” had its origins as one of a number of what huhsmile calls “vent” songs recorded on her phone. She says that she rediscovered the song on Soundcloud where she uploaded her earlier tunes. “I remember how I wrote it, and I remembered exactly the lyrics I had [written],” she says, “It felt like my body just knew the song again instinctively when I found it in my files again.” She sent the recording along to her producers and they agreed that it just might work.
The song goes down easy, exactly what huhsmile has in mind. “I hope this song makes [people] less alone,” she says, “I know the lyrics are a little sad, but I hope the treatment that we did for the song makes the feelings easier to deal with.” She adds that it is easier for people to take heartbreak in a song if it sounds more upbeat. She hopes that people will listen to the song and relate with the experience.
Image courtesy of UMG Philippines
Eunice Gatdula is the young woman behind huhsmile. Influenced by Moonstar88 and Silent Sanctuary, she finds her niche as a pop musician with a trove of stories to share. It is a story of someone who is thriving and surviving despite her circumstances. She aims to explore what it means to be a woman in the Philippines with particular lived experiences in her music.
huhsmile’s music engages with various aspects of her life, and “Naninigurado” is no exception. “I didn’t…have the best self-esteem [before],” she says, “so this song was really me trying to grapple with how dispensable I feel to people—how easily replaceable I thought I was.” Like a good number of her songs, this one is an excellent example of how she uses music to help her be honest with herself about who she is and how she feels.
While huhsmile tries not to get her hopes up when releasing songs, primarily to avoid disappointment, she does enjoy the fact that songs like this one become part of people’s Tiktok videos or memes, or, as she puts it, “special songs for their favorite characters.” She concludes, “I hope people treat this release kindly as well.”
Stream “Naninigurado” on all music streaming platforms. Listen to the track below: