Ginhawa

Ruhiya is a British-Filipino singer, songwriter, and sound healing practitioner. For her debut release, Ginhawa, which means ‘Breath’ in her native Visayan language, she teamed up with multi-instrumentalist and producer Zayn Mohammed. The duo has both British and Asian roots, which come out in the fusion the two create, and the soothing sonic soundscape Mohammed has created provides the canvas for Ruhiya's beautiful voice. Inspired by her Filipino heritage, the nine songs on the album explore ‘dreams, the feminine, spirit and nature, inspiredby pre-colonial Philippines and Animist cosmology.’

The album kicks off with ‘Before They Came’, a spoken passage about breathing, memory and history and then segues into the Sade-like silky groove of ‘Kanta Sa Damgo’. An homage to grannies, the perky ‘Cha Cha for Lola’ is a standout, as is the bossa-inspired ‘Bulawan’. But the song I really liked is the one traditional song of the set, the well-known Visayan folk song/lullaby ‘Dandansoy’, which is about a young woman returning to her hometown and leaving behind her sweetheart. Although it's a sad song, ‘Dandansoy’ has the same uplifting effect as the rest of the album.