BINI original song drives home friendship theme, says 'Forgotten Island' composer
MANILA, Philippines — The Nation's Girl Group BINI was tapped for an original song in "Forgotten Island" because of the P-pop act's alignment with the movie's friendship theme.
DreamWorks Animation's newest film inspired by Filipino culture and folklore features BINI's newest song "A Parallel World," which plays midway through the runtime as Raissa and Jo (Liza Soberano and H.E.R.) try to recollect how they ended up on titular island of Nakali.
"A Parallel World" is one of the few original lyrical songs on the official soundtrack, which also features covers of Francis Magalona's "Mga Kababayan" by SB19 and INXS' "Never Tear Us Apart" by Sophia Laforteza of Katseye.
Philstar.com exclusively spoke to Nathan Matthew David, the Filipino-American composrer of "Forgotten Island," and asked why BINI was chosen for an original song while SB19 and Sophia were tapped for covers.
David began by acknowledging decisions were made in accordance to the needs of the film and the story being told.
An example he gave of moments being worked into the script was Sophia's take on "Never Tear Us Apart," meanwhile "Mga Kababayan" was selected as the production team wanted honor the late rapper.
"SB19 did an insanely good cover of that, you know, it's fantastic," David praised the P-pop Kings. "And I think really pays homage to Francis M."
The movie set in the '90s used covers as the composer found it an interesting the idea to blend classic sounds with modern ones.
"BINI in particular for ['A Parallel World'] and the friendship theme, they just so imperfectly encompassed the themes of this film," David shared, noting how glad the team was to approach BINI before the group's historic Coachella performance that raised their popularity even more.
"We knew they were going to be so perfect for this, their themes of friendship, what they stand for," the composer added. "And additionally their vocals are incredible. And so they were just the perfect fit for one of the original songs in the film."
David also agreed that it was a no-brainer that Liza and H.E.R. would sing the lead track "BRB," which plays during the credits.
"It was so perfect, yeah, it's just incredible they were both on it. The song's incredible, it's so great that it all came together," he ended.
With Liza and H.E.R. in the voice cast are Dolly de Leon, Filipino-American comedian Jo Koy, Filipino-Canadian actor Manny Jacinto, Filipino-American actress Amielynn Abellera, Dave Franco, Jenny Slate, Ronny Chieng, and Lea Salonga, who also contributes to the film's music.
"Forgotten Island" goes wide in Philippine cinemas this September 23.
RELATED: Liza Soberano, H.E.R. explore Manila in 'BRB' music video
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