Queensland-based indie singer-songwriter Optacure, aka Edmund Gemelo, recently released “Mingaw,” featuring Debb.
A song about seclusion, “Mingaw” mirrors two perspectives: 1) the lonely, and 2) the one caring for the lonely. The track’s birth spanned the globe: Optacure produced and recorded the melody in Australia’s Sunshine Coast; while Debb laid down the vocals in Cebu City, in the Philippines; followed by co-producer Emmanuel Aguila adding his finishing touches in Quezon City, Philippines.
Prior to assuming the name Optacure, Edmund played with two bands, Specterull, a rap/rock outfit, and Bears In Peril, an indie-rock band. In 2015, he relocated to Australia, where, sans musicians to work with, he created a new project – Optacure, a collaborative fusion of artists probing the alternative perceptions through various stylistic matrices.
A coined term, Optacure refers to Optical Cure, a philosophy seeking out a universal viewpoint. Edmund’s music centers on exploring diverse understandings and interpretations of the meaning of existence.
On “Mingaw,” Optacure delves into the disparate facets of isolation and loneliness.
Opening on a gentle strumming guitar, “Mingaw” displays a blend of dream-pop flavored with gossamer shoegaze textures. Wistful yet tantalizingly soft and velvety, the vocals infuse the lyrics with longing hues as the melody floats on undulating, misty colors.
When the two voices merge in harmony, the tune takes on delicious, creamy radiance, shimmering with smooth, glossy timbres, gliding on lush, lustrous layers. As the voices rise and fall, encompassing mellow melancholy and swelling coruscations, the song generates exquisite, alluring finery, embroidered by glowing suffusions of lingering, pensive tones.
Wonderfully wrought, “Mingaw” is at once elusive and rife with delicately gorgeous sonic frissons, displaying the margins of solitude.
