Great news or bad news —that’s really up to you, IV of Spades fans. Unique Salonga has just made his comeback in the local music scene. Sad to say, it’s no longer with the band by his side. He broke the news in his official Facebook page that everything is signed and sealed for his solo flight.
After his departure from the band last month that left a lot of us confused and heartbroken, a video of his solo set in Kean Cipriano’s birthday bash surfaced online two days ago. This performance serves now as a sort of teaser to his new musical venture. He played two hits from his former band, “Mundo” and “Ilaw sa Daan,” sending a lot of fans online haywire. We haven’t seen his iconic ’70s bob and bug-eyed glasses in weeks! To have this video of him behind the mic once more was the reassurance that all of us needed. Little did we know that this set was just the start of something really big.
Kean posted a black and white picture of Unique in his Instagram after the video of his performance. Fans that were following his account were already torn by this vague post. A lot were already suspicious that this is leading to Unique going solo. Going through the comments, you’ll find two types of fans: people who support Unique ’till the end and people who are blaming Kean for ruining the band.
There are a lot of opinions revolving around IV of Spades and Unique as musicians. From aesthetics to their sound, everyone seems to have a say on who they are. It’s sad that the chances of the band being the original fab four once more has been thrown out the window. But what everyone should be excited, or at least, be curious about is to see Unique’s continuous growth as an artist.
The announcement of his solo career is not the only change around here. We’re also about to witness the band‘s new direction without him. We got a chance to see that in their new gigs. As for Unique, everyone will see his sound and style in its truest form. Isn’t exciting to think what two musical acts would create? If what people’s expectations of their talents remain true, then the local music scene is in for a treat. That’s what everybody could look forward to. These musicians will keep doing their thing. And who are we to stop them?
Do you support Unique’s decision or would you rather have the band back together? @ us @scoutmagph
Photography by Edward Joson
Art by Bryan Sochayseng