In between snaps at ena mori’s shoot, the soundtrack shifts like a mixtape on shuffle. Charli XCX’s Brat blasts through the speakers first, its chaotic energy filling the room. ena steps into the room, transformed with a new look. From a black dress and makeup inspired by vaudeville villains, she’s now draped in a white silken dress. Doechii’s Alligator Bites Never Heal soon plays, sending her into badass mode. She’s more alert with her set of poses and more animated. The shoot is a reflection of her own music and herself: playful, unpredictable, and impossible to pin down
Based in Las Piñas, ena has been a decorated musician from the get-go; Her debut album Don’t Blame the Wild Ones won her the prestigious Album of the Year award at the 2023 Awit Awards and was listed in countless year-end lists detailing the genius of her songwriting. She’s also a renowned globe trotter for music festivals everywhere, from Clockenflap to South by Southwest, not to mention her own annual music festival, Ena Matsuri, highlighting the glitz and glamour of Shinjuku fashion. But this was only the beginning of her era.
The 27-year-old Filipino-Japanese musician was classically trained at a young age, fiddling with the piano, which led her to discover the boundless possibilities of pop music. Think Björk rediscovering trip-hop or Britney Spears reinventing herself with The Neptunes’ pop-rap-influenced bops. For ena, it’s electronica and art pop. Her approach to music has been nothing short of unconventional. Yet her sound’s accessibility has led to the definitive chic and childlike wonder of pop music that she’s become synonymous with.
Though classically trained, ena prefers sounds that she couldn’t create with the instruments she plays, which includes everything digital. “Electronic music for me is limitless,” she says. “It’s a little bit scary. It’s daunting for some people, but it is definitely progressive… innovative. It’s the future of everything,” she says with a smile.
Expanding pop horizons
While ena acknowledges the universal appeal of pop music, she still thinks there’s room for daring ideas in pop, something she’s working toward with her music.
“Whenever I’m making a new pop record, I try my best to twist something to make sure that it reaches different wavelengths. If we don’t, [then] we’re just repeating ourselves, and I get bored of that. Pop should be something more than just what people can hear.”
Pop stardom often entails mass appeal and a command of media to burn your name, image, and sound in people’s minds. This, too, requires a willingness on the part of the artist to participate in a kind of hamster wheel of publicity to retain relevance. In this sense, ena couldn’t be any further from a typical pop star.
For one, she’s not comfortable with being on screen. “I hate being on TV. I hate being on screen,” she says. “As much as my genre is pop, I resonate [more] with the underground kids and the weirdos — people like us. I feel much closer to and comfortable with these people rather than seeing myself on TV.”
Read the rest of the story in the first print issue of Rolling Stone Philippines. For more information, please visit Sari.Sari.Shopping.
Styling MJ BENITEZ
Makeup DOROTHY MAMALIO
Hair PATTY CRISTOBAL
ena wears HA.MÜ Cloud Jacket
Mich Dulce Bunny Hat
Deliver Deliver Daily x Vania Romoff Bow Blazer
