Jolianne embraces the unfamiliarity of first love in new single “Daanan”

Following the chart-topping breakthrough of “Palayo sa Mundo,” which has recently crossed 70 million streams on Spotify alone, Filipino singer-songwriter Jolianne commences her new era in music with the release of “Daanan,” out today via Sony Music Entertainment.

Penned by Jolianne, “Daanan” conveys the experience of finding comfort in another person when you least expect it. Rather than portraying love as something immediate and perfectly formed, the song approaches it as a process that is built through small acts of vulnerability, familiarity, and right timing.

 “Daanan is about falling in love for the first time and about having someone gently guide you through your firsts and learning, little by little, to let someone into your life,” the Cebu-born pop artist explains. “It’s about choosing to grow into love instead of rushing toward it and discovering yourself through the eyes of someone who sees you completely.”

The guitar-pop ballad is also about treating love as something “you slowly nurture and choose every day.” Jolianne adds, “Sometimes, you don’t know exactly where the road will lead—you just know that you want to keep walking, hand in hand with someone, until you find out together.” 

For Jolianne, writing in Filipino meant deliberately stepping outside of her comfort zone. My comfort languages as a writer are English and Bisaya, so writing in Filipino felt like entering an entirely new space. It made me feel like a beginner all over again. Daanan challenged me to stretch beyond what I already knew, and I’m happy that I allowed myself to be a beginner again.”

That sense of discovery extends to the song’s creation. Jolianne initially recorded the melody as a voice note without chords or a beat, an unconventional starting point for her usual songwriting process. Produced by Luke April, the song gradually expands from a sparse, intimate opening into a fuller orchestral arrangement, mirroring its movement from uncertainty to surrender.

The accompanying music video, directed by Raliug and created with Lunchbox, brings the song’s central metaphor to life through dance. Jolianne plays someone learning to dance from an instructor she develops a crush on, with moments of awkwardness and hesitation reflecting the vulnerability of learning to let another person in.

“I really liked the idea of using dance because there’s something inherently vulnerable about letting another person teach you,” reveals Jolianne. “You have to be willing to look a little silly, make mistakes, and trust that they’ll catch you when you get the steps wrong. That became a visual metaphor for the love I’m talking about in the song: you don’t know what you’re doing at first, but you slowly become more comfortable with each other and learn the rhythm together.”
 
Jolianne’s “Daanan” is out now on all digital music platforms worldwide via Sony Music Entertainment. Watch the music video on Jolianne's official YouTube channel, which premieres on Aug 14, 2026 at 6:00 P.M.