True to its name, BINI’s Born To Win debut album wants to make the listener feel like they can take on any challenge in life.
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As bold as it may seem for some people, naming your debut album Born To Win is not that bad, especially if you’re P-pop girl group BINI. As the first P-pop girl group from ABS-CBN and BGYO’s sister group, it would be inevitable that a spotlight would be placed on BINI. So, from their debut song Born To Win all the way until now, the group has made a concerted effort to deliver music that uplifts and lets out your inner #boss. For their debut album, BINI made a 12-track undertaking (including the Bahasa, Japanese, Thai, and Spanish version of Born To Win) whose whole vibe is empowerment and positivity. And not to mention some danceable tunes along the way.
AN EMPOWERING OPENING
BINI’s Born To Win album opens with the title track and debut single, Born To Win. The hard-hitting pop track sets the tone for the rest of the album as BINI sings about overcoming challenges and having a can-do attitude. It definitely shows that BINI is confident when it comes to knowing what they want to achieve. That is then followed up by their latest single, Golden Arrow. Sonically, it features a nice disco-funk sound, which is something that is also present in other songs on the album. The track continues the empowerment vibe in Born To Win as the girls sing about feeling confident and being reassured of themselves. While you get down on the dance floor, it wants you to feel like you got this.
We then reach the first new track on the album, the interestingly titled B HU UR. It sounds quite like the phrase “be who you are,” which is used repeatedly in the song. This upbeat and groovy pop track is a collaboration with rapper Kritiko and is another empowering bop. When you hear the song, it sounds like it could be an anthem for love and positivity.
A DETOUR INTO LOVE
Midway through the album, BINI takes a bit of a detour as the next couple of songs revolve around romantic love. At first, Na Na Na sounds like a typical romantic song about falling in love. But as you go through the song, it turns into a track about how you keep falling into the same mistakes and ignore the red flags, something a lot of people can relate to.
And then there’s Kinikilig. This funk-inspired track talks about someone making you fall in love again after you thought you wouldn’t. While thematically, both songs don’t necessarily bring anything new to the table, they stand out as probably the best new songs on the album, both musically and vocally. It’s not that hard to imagine any of these songs being included in the soundtrack of a rom-com movie or series.
CLOSING OUT WITH FRIENDSHIP AND FANS
As we reach the end of the album, the songs return to the main theme of believing in yourself, as well as taking a closer look at the group themselves. Out of all the songs on Born To Win, Kapit Lang is probably the most on-the-nose when it comes to its message. The electronic-pop song served as the group’s second official single and is all about overcoming challenges and striving against hardships. According to the song’s writer, Lian Kyla, she was inspired to write Kapit Lang because of the pandemic and wanted a song that was sensitive to the times. It definitely would be nice to see this song get an acoustic version for its message to shine further.
That is then followed by 8. Unlike the other songs on the album, 8 is a bit slower and a laid-back jam. On the surface, the song is about friendship, but it wouldn’t be hard to imagine that it is also about BINI themselves. After all, the song’s title is 8 and there are eight members in BINI. The phrase, walo hanggang dulo, is also repeated a few times in the track. The song could serve as a reflection of BINI’s journey, how after all the training and hardships they’ve been through, they finally reached or are aiming to reach their goal as a team.
The album closes on Here With You, an uplifting anthem on the power of friendship and how people are there to support you. The track serves as a thank you to BINI’s fans, the BLOOMS, and can be an appropriate end of concert final song to sing along.
THE BEGINNING OF THEIR JOURNEY
Overall, BINI’s first studio album is quite good. Jhoanna, Aiah, Colet, Maloi, Gwen, Stacey, Mikah, Sheena, and everyone else involved in the album gave a good effort. It’s a well-produced album. The group’s exploration into the funk and disco sound really suited them well and the group’s vocals are stunning, as in they served in that department. It’s going to be interesting to see how BINI reinterpret these songs for their upcoming concert this November. Given how this is just their first album, BINI is only going to grow from here and we can’t wait to see the girls explore more genres, themes, visuals, and sounds.
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