MV REVIEW: BGYO’s nostalgic music video on ‘Kundiman’ is a phantasmagorical dreamland

Fast-rising P-POP act, BGYO, is all about bringing out the nostalgia in ‘Kundiman’, a rousing soul ballad that could potentially be your next slow dance anthem.

Most of their previous music videos are distinctly vivid in color, and there seems to be a great deal of imagination employed in their production. Judging on their Ilustrado-inspired attires–it’s easy to mistake the Kundiman music video as a sequel or it’s set in the same universe as The Baddest, the Liza Soberano-featuring pop-throbber, that the group released a few months ago.

According to Danyl Geniciran, the group’s visual director, the music video is a trip to the ‘70s while also drawing inspiration from French pompadours and Holywood legends. That makes sense when you watch the entire Kundiman, where the five gentlemen project different eras with their classic masculine and modern preppy dressing.

In Kundiman, the colors got tamed, but they remain purposely vivid. At some point in watching the video, a rushing sense of nostalgia becomes an inevitable treat. There’s this feeling of a delightful sugar rush but only toned down by taming the music video’s which could be bright visuals into watercolor palettes. The overall theme creates portraits from a long-forgotten era, which the music video revisits to bring out that nostalgic sense.

Kundiman, like BGYO’s past music videos, is bliss out on magic and dreams.

It makes the dimly-lit and sci-fiction-themed The Baddest a nearly opposite masterpiece, except they are both badasses. JL Tordeliza’s playful head tone voice and falsettos are a fuel that makes the dreamy track soar, and Akira’s unbelievable runs and range provide the wings to keep it adrift in cloud nine.

TJL and Akira’s magnificent vocals are the ‘strongest’ points of Kundiman.

It’s a doubt-proof fact. That does not make the other three boys less impressive, as Nate and Gelo are extra-charming in their near-Prince Charming looks. Nate, I believe, has never sung more lines in a song, and here, he [definitely] owns his spotlight. Mikki charms in his rap-free lines, which gives us a better opportunity for his vocals.

Beyond Kundiman’s heaping spoonful of nostalgia, it is still BGYO’s aesthetic visuals, their powerful vocals, and the filling inside this sweet summer candy that should get more applause. Kundiman is still both a hopeful and a heartbreak song. Akira penned the words of the song. It talked of an earnest intent to wait for that one true love who may or may not arrive.

Of course, the smooth and sleek choreography showcased in those mini-dance breaks is just mesmerizing as scenes to behold.

Stream Kundiman and the other track’s under BGYO’s The Light studio album via Spotify. Streaming also on other global music platforms. Watch the official music video below: