The Late Isabel’s Doll’s Head Turns 15

The Late Isabel’s Doll’s Head Turns 15

by rick olivares

In 2004, The Late Isabel released their debut album, Doll’s Head. 

The album stood out in a sea of nu-metal and retro-sounding bands that were popular at the time. Aside from being a sleeper hit, the album is also notable for being the first ever Filipino gothic rock album released.

Nine songs that ushered in nightfall and the eeriness associated with it. 

Doll’s Head evoked the macabre of Siouxsie and the Banshees with Allan Hernandez’ tortured guitar musings, JP Agcaoili’s gloomy drumming, and the thumping fear of Roval Bacale’s bass. What set them apart was the operatic range of vocalist Wawi Navarroza. And she had flair. Did she ever. In the music video for Doll’s Head, she was this alluring vamp whose piercing eyes zapped you into a trance-like state.

If Siouxsie and the Banshees recorded a twisted version of The Beatles’ “Helter Skelter”, The Late Isabel’s response was a haunting version of The Sound of Music’s “My Favorite Things.” After that, did anyone remember the way Julie Andrews sang that musicale classic?

From music to album packaging, The Late Isabel rose and slithered into everyone’s secret black heart. The textured black and white cover featured a young girl with her eyes cast upward in muted wonder. It was an image that seemed came out of some antique locket. Or heirloom. In fact, one cannot think about Doll’s Head without thinking about that iconic cover.

Fifteen years later, we caught up not only with Hernandez, but also the cover model, Karen Holdnall, who has blossomed into a beautiful woman who now works as a stewardess for AirAsia.

“There is some synchronicity involved in those photos of Wai,” bared Hernandez. “When I wrote ‘Doll’s Head’, I had not yet met Wawi. I met her through Doi Porras of Dominion. All I knew of her was that she played bass (for another goth band) Prominence of Cathedrals.”

It was while talking to Navarroza that Hernandez was shown pictures of her work that was titled, Polysaccharide, where Karen was the model. “Polysaccharide was how I was seeing the doll’s head song in my head. That was when I knew Wawi would be part of The Late Isabel because she saw in visions what we were hearing in sounds.”

“I used to hang out at Wawi’s place all the time,” chipped in Holdnall. “She took a picture of me one time and she asked the band if they could use it for the album cover. They thought the picture was just right and that was how it happened. It was totally unplanned; a spur of the moment idea. I was 11 or 12 years old at that time and little did I know that it open doors for me.”

The video shoot for “Doll’s Head” was also an experience for the young lass. “I was amazed at the experience of watching a band shoot a music video,” she said. “The effects were all pretty cool.”

A friend of Navarroza’s saw a picture that she took of Holdnall and asked if she would like to participate in a contest where the winner would land a cover spot on Candy magazine. Karen won and the floodgates soon opened on offers for modelling gigs. “My dad didn’t want me to do it because he thought I was too young and that I should finish my studies first.”

The Late Isabel and their debut was a hit and garnered rave reviews from critics. Furthermore, it helped bring some awareness to the goth subculture. The album is now considered a collector’s item and is rather hard to find in the back seller’s market. 

“We as a band liked the air of mystery about our music and our image,” added Hernandez. “Even our gig posters reflected that. It would always be about a woman in a stylish and mysterious form.”

Doll’s Head was followed up seven years later in 2011 with the EP Lackadaisical. And nine years later today, a new album is said to have taken form and is set to be released pending a few more details. The band has somewhat strayed from their goth roots and entered art rock territory. 

Hernandez laughed at the how each and every effort takes later and later to produce. “I am sure it will be worth the wait for everyone,” laughed Hernandez. ““Don’t you love a mystery?”