Jona returns to her ‘core’ in Someone To Love Me

Jona Viray’s inclusion in Filipino-American music director Troy Laureta’s latest album GILIW: A Troy Laureta OPM Collective Vol. 2 signaled her return to the music scene after taking a break for some time.

In the Original Pilipino Music (OPM) collective album, Jona displays her amazing vocals in the soulful love ballad, Someone To Love Me, the only original composition in GILIW by Troy, his sister Cheesa, and Camille Napolitano.

She said in a virtual call that it definitely marked her music comeback. “This would be the start of me returning to work? ’coz I haven’t done a new record since? I can’t remember. I think this is a good start of that comeback in the music scene.”

“Sobrang happy ako na ito yung song na naging panimula. I felt na yung parang naging absence ko for months, sobrang mini-message po ako ng fans na, ‘Nami-miss ka na namin, nami-miss namin mga mga performances mo, sana mag-labas ka ng mga songs,’” she added.

Then, the unexpected offer came in from Troy via Instagram. He asked Jona to be part of the music project and she gladly agreed to it.

Because of this beautiful collaboration, Jona got re-inspired to continue creating new and original music compositions.

“Filipino classic songs talaga nandiyan na yan, timeless na yan,” she shared. “I pray that I could release more original compositions in the future and I hope that this won’t be the last time na magka-work kami (Troy), sana may future projects pa tayo together.”

Aside from (future) songs and records, Jona is keen on doing live concerts to further “celebrate OPM and inspire Filipinos to be proud of our music, our sound.”

The 32-year-old artist jumped right in when she was asked to join GILIW. She said, “No. 1 for me, it’s already unquestionable. If Troy Laureta would ask you to be part of this super-duper beautiful project, why would you have second thoughts about it, right? And besides, having seen and heard of Kuya Troy in his previous projects, I think it’s just really inspiring and I feel really honored to be chosen and to sing the only original composition in the album.”

The premise behind Someone To Love Me, which is about searching for one true love, kind of reflected Jona’s personal history. “It’s like you’re waiting for a long, long time already to find that one true love,” she said. “That song kinda resonates with my experience. Despite having experienced all the heartaches, all the hardships and all the waiting game, finally ito ka na, ready ka na for this one true big love. Someone To Love Me is all about that.”

Jona thanked the team behind the album for entrusting her the song and shared that the project has reminded her to stay true to her core as an artist and as a Filipino.

“Since I transferred to ABS-CBN, they kinda rebranded my music, coming from the previous recording label, GMA Records, and having produced an independent album,” she recounted. “Nung time na nag-rebrand kami ng music, it’s just the same ballad songs but the songs na napili would appeal to the masses. After some time, after singing those kind of songs for three or four years, I started having this vision na what if mag-iba naman ako ng direction ng music, what if I try a more modern sound or modern beats or yung mga tinatawag natin na more mid-tempo songs.”

When Jona took a break during the pandemic, she had many realizations about her music career, such as, “What if I collaborate with this kind of producer? This kind of artist? Ganyan, ganyan. Gusto kong maka-sulat ng mga songs na parang kumbaga kung ano yung trend ngayon. Yung mga trending na music ngayon is all about R&B, mga upbeats.”

Having listened to Troy’s previous album, KAIBIGAN, which also highlighted OPM hits, she got enthralled when he reached out to her to be included in GILIW. Jona had been praying for an opportunity to do such kind of album — “an excellent album which promotes Filipino music, Filipino talents and culture and bringing it out to the whole world.” She felt proud to be one of the featured artists in the “inspiring record.”

When she first heard Someone To Love Me, she was blown away with Cheesa’s powerful vocals to the point that she doubted her own skills, but Jona, nevertheless, nailed it.

“I think this record is a confirmation na hindi ko din dapat iwan kung ano yung core ko as an artist. Kung saan ako nakilala or minahal ng mga listeners or ng mga fans. I could do other types of music,” said Jona and hoped that in future she could experiment with new sound but one thing is certain, “This project, this track is really a confirmation, that we should be proud of who we are. We, Filipinos, love to sing emotional songs, mga hugot songs.”

Troy’s 13-track album GILIW also features Magkasuyo Buong Gabi, a duet by Deborah Cox and American Idol Season Two winner Ruben Studdard; You Are My Song by classical singer Fernando Varela; and the classic ballad Kailangan Ko’y Ikaw by singer-songwriter Shoshana Bean.

Besides Boy Abunda’s surprising presence in the album via the Interlude: Pag-ibig, GILIW also includes The Voice Kids Philippines Season Four contestant Adah in Kaibigan intro; Cheesa in Kaba; Regine Velasquez-Alcasid and Nicole Scherzinger in Nandito Ako; and Jake Zyrus in Maghintay Ka Lamang and album’s Outro: Kung Kita’y Kapiling.

(GILIW is now available on music services worldwide).