Release Date: November 18, 2021 Genre: Pop Label: Independent / Cali Creative Records Jaenna Cali is an overly talented Filipina-Canadian singer, songwriter, producer, actress, and director that's currently splitting her time between Vancouver and Winnipeg, where she is working on numerous projects related to her music, acting, and directing. Yesterday, Jaenna released her brand new single, "Standing By." Jaenna's new song was written when Jaenna was sixteen years old and still living in the Phillippines. At the time, she was struggling with overwhelming herself with too much as she thought ultimate productivity was where she was supposed to be. The song initially came about when she couldn't find the words to express her feelings, and ultimately, the next thing she knew she had spilled the words out on paper through a confessional piece. Jaenna's brand new single is the follow-up and prequel track to her debut single, "Simply You," released this past July. Once again, "Standing By" is self-produced by Jaenna -something she is still honing her craft in.
"We hear all these affirmative, encouraging words, but sometimes that is not what we always need and instead need a safe space to open up to express emotions without judgement," states Jaenna. "It was important for me to release this song so that young people, Filipinos, and others can know that they are not alone and may have hope in their negative feelings without the need to be positive or the need to 'stifle emotions' in order to 'save face.' It breaks that stigma, especially in the Filipino culture, where I'm from," Jaenna continues.
Musically, "Standing By" stays true to Jaenna's songwriting and her sound. The new single hardly delves far from what "Simply You" captures in tone, message, and sound. While her previous track was an indie-pop number that was atmospheric with unique uses of instruments in its soundscape and using instruments such as piano and subtle use of electric guitar and percussion, "Standing By" is a full-blown, straight from the heart acoustic pop track performed solely on a clean electric guitar. With two tracks now under Jaenna's belt, there should be even more from her in the very near future -that she teased last week when I interviewed her- but until then, be sure to stream "Standing By" and "Simply You," where you stream your music!