Sirena
Download Art and Lyrics Booklet.
SIRENA is an original story written by Filipina artist, Leslie Damaso, about a love triangle between a mermaid, the sun and the moon, ending in the beginning of a nation, the displacement of its people and an individual’s search for identity and belonging, set within new compositions and contemporary arrangements of kundiman songs of love and freedom and kulintang.
Music, storytelling and art combine to bridge our histories, the past and present, the east and west, and north and south of the Philippines. Guided by the truth, the truth we tell, the truth that is palatable to others, the one that is palatable to ourselves, the truth that destroys, that inspires, and heals, I wanted to better understand my humanity, to see others more deeply and to celebrate that connection.
“SIRENA is an ambitious, breathtaking amalgamation of tradition and innovation, pushing the boundaries of where we can take homeland art when it becomes part of the diaspora” – Rodlyn-mae Banting, Madison 365, June 28, 2024
Leslie Damaso – vocals, kulintang
Ben Ferris – bass
Michael A Koszewski – percussion
Jason Kutz – piano
Jon Irabagon – saxophone
Janice Lee – violin
Jose Guzman – guitar
Produced by Leslie Damaso, Ben Ferris, Mike Koszewski & Jason Kutz
Recorded at Audio for the Arts, Madison, Wisconsin (August 17-18, 2023)
Recording Engineer – Audrey Martinovich
Assistant Engineer – Stephanie Benicek
Mixed by Audrey Martinovich
Mastered by Jett Galindo at Bakery Mastering, Los Angeles, CA
Insert Photography – Noah Gilfillan, Anya Kubilus
Insert Art, Text & Translations, Liner Notes – Leslie Damaso
Jacket Art – Krstina Mastilovic
Graphic Design – Kristin Mitchell at Kristin Mitchell Design, Inc. & Sarah Shumaker
Manufacturing – Gotta Groove Records, Inc.
The Philippine art song genre, kundiman (which in Tagalog means “if it were not so”), was written in the late 1800’s through the mid 1900’s as a reaction to the Spanish occupation of 333 years. It was later used as propaganda during the American and Japanese occupations and during the time of the People Power Revolution when Ferdinand Marcos was president.
In the past couple of years, I have felt this intense longing to explore my roots and to define what home means to me. Though I am an American citizen, how is it that I’m also Filipino? How do I make sense of the baggage of instability, the effects of war, corruption, colonization, politics, and religion from the country where I was born? Like many immigrants, it was and it is so much easier to assimilate.
For people like me who are part of the diaspora, the question of identity or home is challenging to define. Along the way you find little pieces like these songs, you encounter people and places that comfort and inspire and you create this unique collage which makes a home that you never imagined you could have.
To see the lyrics and my translations, go here.
An album of Tom Waits covers
Chained to the World was my first album. It consists of 10 covers of her favorite Tom Waits songs:
- Flower’s Grave
- Take Me Home
- Anywhere I Lay My Head
- Temptation
- Dirt in the Ground
- Georgia Lee
- November
- Take It with Me
- You Can Never Hold Back Spring
- Who Are You
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