SOS embraces intimacy with new single “Roses” off upcoming EP, welcomes Ram Alonzo to the band lineup

SOS continues to explore new directions and expand their repertoire with their latest track, “Roses,” the second single from their forthcoming EP.

“Roses” is the follow-up to last year’s “Seryoso,” the band’s first Filipino-language track which starred award-winning actor Jericho Rosales in the accompanying visual. Both will be part of the upcoming EP, which marks SOS’s first release under local label Careless Music. 

The single dovetails SOS’s renewed approach to songwriting and music production, which they started delving into in 2020’s The Other Side EP after they announced the band’s name change from She’s Only Sixteen last year.

“‘Roses’ is a little more intimate than most of our songs,” explains vocalist Roberto Seña. “It has a feeling of lushness that I always aim for when producing songs lately. It’s rare that we write a love song that is free from the angst and jadedness that I think we have become known for.” Seña adds the production was inspired from the 1980s, incorporating synths and guitar work from the pop-dominated decade, but still grounded on the familiar sound fans have enjoyed from SOS over the years.

More lyrically optimistic than their pre-pandemic releases, “Roses” also continues to employ new and more varied stylistic choices reflective of the rest of the EP, with each song meticulously going through the band’s “musical cutting board,” shares guitarist Andrew Panopio.

Titled It Was A Moment, the five-track EP is due on September 29, 2023. The band committed to a two-week production schedule for the project, says drummer King Puentespina. “We set schedules, deadlines and did a proper pre-prod to solidify our intentions for the project. The concept of the songs revolve around the moments and the anxieties of growing up and facing these emotions.”  

Also following last year’s major change to the Manila-based band’s decade-long career is the addition of Ram Alonzo on keys. He has been a session player for SOS since their time in college and has long been considered an unofficial member. 

Alonzo recalls being asked to formally join the band lineup earlier this year. “Seña asked if I was game to join the band. I only had one answer in mind: ‘Hell yeah.’ And then we all drank to it. I’ve been playing with SOS since 2014 and joining the band felt right.”

“With all the different experimentation with samples, keys and synths, we thought it was about time to add a new member. In the studio, Ram glues in all our musical ideas together because of his knowledge of music theory and vast musical taste,” shares Seña.

Bassist Anjo Silvoza adds, “There’s so much more depth to how we sound live that I think has been missing all these years.” Especially now that he felt the new EP serves as a transitional era to SOS. “We’re not boxed into categories anymore, we’re taking the good things we’ve learned from our listeners and fans and building off of that and hopefully ‘Roses’ and the rest or our upcoming releases will be able to stand alone.”

About SOS

SOS (pronounced like “sauce”) is an alternative band from Manila, Philippines. Formerly known as She’s Only Sixteen, members Roberto Seña (vocals, guitar, synths), Andrew Panopio (guitar), Anjo Silvoza (bass), Ram Alonzo (keys, synths), and King Puentespina (drums, synths) derive their influences from genre- and era-spanning styles: juxtaposing occasionally anthemic, often inescapable rhythms with lyrical themes that explore realist jadedness in almost real-time weariness, as well as human complexities with lush, buoyant production styles. This irony is at the core of the band’s galvanizing live performances, where they project human fallibility—strikingly— with both tenderness and animosity. SOS has performed extensively in their home country of the Philippines and across Asia, including Singapore, Thailand, Taiwan, and Japan. Their latest track, “Roses,” and their upcoming new double EP are their first release under Careless Music.

SOS is on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram at @sosbandforever.