In 2001,
Tootsie Guevara released
Sa Puso Ko (In My Heart). As with most albums by Philippine solo artists, the album contains much easy listening music, but it also contains upbeat, dance-inflected numbers and substantive, soulful balladry. Easy listening music is very popular in the Philippines, and it's risky for a solo artist to release an album without it. The approach taken on this album ensures that there is both easy listening music and a healthy dose of adventurous, more challenging music. "Sa Puso Ko" (In My Heart), "Nang Dahil Sa Pag-ibig" (Because of Love), and "Ba't 'Di Mo Sabihin" (Why Didn't You Say) are cut from a similar easy listening mold. Though "Sa Puso Ko" starts on a promising soulful ambience, the chorus sounds distressingly similar to many other Filipino easy listening love songs. The song's composer,
Vehnee Saturno, has written many easy listening love songs and at times seems to be rewriting his own catalog. Yet, he also wrote one of this album's best songs, the ballad "Don't Say It's Over," a duet between
Guevara and Joe Javier. The song is soulful, sophisticated, and beautiful, and Joe Javier's suave voice adds to the joyment.
Tootsie Guevara's singing is strong and heartfelt, and she sounds assured throughout the album. She handles the upbeat, dance-inflected "Do You?" with confidence and verve, as she does with another upbeat number, "I'm in Love?" While
Sa Puso Ko is more a hodgepodge of songs rather than a cohesive album,
Tootsie Guevara's strong performance holds the album together. ~ David Gonzales