With seven members, a Sony Music Philippines deal, and a song about the exhilarating confusion of young attraction, DAELUX is ready to introduce itself beyond its hometown.
Before the choreography, streaming numbers and inevitable comparisons that come with entering P-Pop, there has to be a first impression.
For DAELUX, that introduction comes from Davao.
The seven-member girl group—CK, Alice, Ara, Rhya, Slane, Zyra and Riri—is beginning its push into the wider Philippine pop scene with “Like That,” a pre-debut single released under Sony Music Entertainment. It is the group’s first release since partnering with Sony Music Philippines.
And instead of arriving with an oversized declaration about conquering the world, DAELUX starts somewhere considerably more familiar: trying to figure out whether your crush actually likes you back.
“Like That” lives in the awkward space between attraction and certainty, when tiny gestures suddenly feel loaded with meaning and overthinking becomes almost unavoidable. DAELUX packages that tension in buoyant pop rather than turning it into a breakup anthem.
“We were drawn to this theme because the feeling of liking someone and trying to figure out where you stand is something a lot of people can relate to,” the group says.
The members describe the song as capturing both the excitement of attraction and the uncertainty that follows when people begin reading too much into each other’s actions.
Pop with a little nerve
There is another idea tucked underneath the crush narrative.
DAELUX wants “Like That” to be about having enough confidence to say what you feel—even when rejection remains a possibility. The group frames vulnerability not as weakness, but as something that can coexist with knowing your own value.
“It’s okay to be vulnerable, as long as you also know your worth and what you truly deserve,” DAELUX says.
That sentiment helped shape the recording itself. The members said they deliberately tried to reconnect with a younger, more innocent emotional state in the studio—the period when romance still feels unfamiliar enough to be simultaneously thrilling and intimidating.
Pao Lofranco produced the track, with AndreaH serving as co-writer. The members also contributed creative ideas as the song went through multiple revisions with the production team and label. Their vocal coach, Ma’am Shelley, helped arrange its harmonies and assign parts designed to showcase the different qualities of the seven voices.
Seven girls, one Davao story
Perhaps the more consequential part of DAELUX’s introduction has little to do with romance.
Every member comes from Davao, and the group says its local roots extend behind the camera and recording booth: the creative team responsible for its music and performance video also comes from the city.
That gives DAELUX a distinct starting point as it enters P-Pop. The group isn’t leaving its hometown identity behind as it moves toward a larger audience; Davao is embedded in the project from the performers to the people helping construct its sound and visuals.
Sony Music Philippines now gives that homegrown operation a much larger platform.
“Being part of Sony Music is a huge opportunity for us,” DAELUX says, adding that the partnership has encouraged the members to think bigger while remaining faithful to their identity.
“Like That” is therefore less a finished statement about who DAELUX will become than a first glimpse of what the group wants to build: youthful pop, personality, seven distinct voices and a strong connection to where they came from.
For a song obsessed with the question of whether somebody feels the same way, DAELUX has chosen an appropriate way to begin.
Now they get to find out whether listeners like them like that.
“Like That” is available worldwide on digital platforms via Sony Music Entertainment.