Darren Espanto Launches New Album And Upcoming Concert


Darren Espanto has finally moved into another level now as a teenager with more projects and a growing fanbase all over the world. Many can still remember when he got his biggest break with The Voice Kids, but he also had a much earlier career from his hometown Calgary, Canada and moved to Manila for a dream paid off.

Now he has a Platinum award for his debut album “Darren”, 3 #1 singles, countless awards from prestigious award giving bodies in the Philippines and concerts and gigs left and right are just some of Darren’s achievements. Add to that, he was noticed by international artists Nicki Minaj, Ashton Kutcher and Fantasia Barrino for his viral videos of him singing in a radio station bus showcasing his powerful vocals. 

He knows he wouldn’t be there without the support of his fans- the Darrenatics. That is why for his sophomore album, released just in time he celebrates his 15th birthday, he wants them to still be with him with the album title “Be With Me”.

“I want to take you guys along my journey as an artist, as a musician and I just wanna express myself through music. Since music is my passion, I just wanna share what talent God gave me,” Darren said.

With top-notch producers Kiko Guevarra, Jungee Marcelo, Jay-R, Kiko Salazar and a line-up of international and top Filipino composers, the standards of this sets apart from his previous debut album.

“It’s a bit different from my debut album that it’s more mature. The recording process for this album was actually a lot of fun. I got to work with a lot of very talented songwriters and each song has a different message and a different sound to it,” Darren said.

The first track from the album “7 Minutes” written by international composers Cimo Frankel, Jochem Fluitsma, Mark van Tijn, Ramon Marco debuted at #1 on iTunes Philippines on its first day of release and in Darren’s words, “about having just little time to show how much you care for that person who is about to leave.”

“Starlight”, written by Singaporean composer Amir Masoh (Jacky Cheung, Ziana Zain), likewise topped iTunes Philippines Singles Chart on its first day of release.

“It’s about living in the moment and having just one life to live. It’s kind of like a “YOLO” you-only-live-once anthem, so it’s pretty fun, you could dance to it, it’s EDM. It’s a great song to listen to as well,” Darren said.

Another single “Parachute” was penned by Berlin-based Filipino composer Jeffrey Abrego and international composer Xavier Schmid and according to Darren “talks about just letting go and living in the moment. Just being free and doing what you wanna do and doing what you love.”

This also signals his growth as an artist having composed 2 songs in the album: “Hanggang Hi Hello” and “Home”.

“I actually wrote two of the songs on this which is really really different for me because I’ve always been so hesitant with sharing the songs I compose, but now, I guess I was confident enough to share it and now it’s in my upcoming album. I wrote “Hanggang Hi Hello” originally when I was eleven but then I changed some of the lyrics to fit my age now. And then “Home” talks about just wanting to be home…and it’s a ballad. It’s actually one of my favorite compositions, I’d say,” Darren said.

Other tracks to watch out are “Alam” by multi-awarded composer Jungee Marcelo, “Be With Me” (Kiko Salazar), “Surrender” (Jay R, Flavamatikz of Q-York), “My Baby & Me” (Allan Eshuijs, Marco Rakascan, Maruja Retana Fransen) and “Talking Bout Love” (Kris Coutinho, Ricardo Burgrust).

Darren considers doing the album “Be With Me” a learning experience.

“I got to learn more techniques in “Be With Me” and I got tips actually from each of the song writers that I worked with. And I guess I developed a new sound as well. So that’s how I developed in this album,” Darren said.

Join Darren as he continues his musical journey which with his talent will span for years.

“Be With Me” is now out through digital downloads and streaming via Spinnr, iTunes, Apple Music, Spotify and VEVO and in CDs at Astroplus and Astrovision outlets.

Catch Darren at his major concert entitled “D Total Experience” on June 25, 8pm at the Kia Theater. With special guests, Jed Madela, Maja Salvador and G-Force. Call Ticketnet at 911-5555 for tickets.

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