The singer turns inward with rOe &mdash; a fragile yet resilient body of work that mirrors the crooked, in-between state of her twenties.

Ena Mori has never been afraid to evolve. With her new EP rOe, the Japanese-Filipino artist trades the maximalist bursts of her previous projects for something quieter but no less daring &mdash; an atmospheric collection rooted in vulnerability, memory, and the uneasy beauty of growing up.&nbsp;
Speaking with L&rsquo;Officiel Philippines, Mori reflects on the reinvention at the heart of this project, which she describes as inspired by &ldquo;the emotional whiplash of entering your twenties with one foot still planted in childhood.&rdquo; The result is a body of work that feels less like a declaration and more like an intimate monologue.

Much like the delicate yet slightly uncanny quality of fish roe, the project&rsquo;s sound marks a leap from Mori&rsquo;s bright and blasting full-length debut album DON&rsquo;T BLAME THE WILD ONE! Instead, rOe embraces an atmospheric, restrained soundscape that mirrors the inward turn of her writing. &ldquo;When I write, I&rsquo;m deeply affected by the spaces and situations I&rsquo;m working in,&rdquo; she shares.&nbsp;
DON&rsquo;T BLAME THE WILD ONE! was born in lockdown, when Mori&rsquo;s artistic expression was all about breaking down walls with energetic, explosive sounds &mdash; a sonic escape and a longing for connection in isolation. With rOe, however, she had more time to sit with herself. Much of it was written during her travels across different countries, where shifting environments pushed her to focus internally, tracing her own thoughts and feelings with new clarity.
Co-produced with longtime collaborator Tim Marquez, the singer found herself more immersed in the production process than ever before. It was both a challenge and a new spark for her creativity. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m still in the learning process, but it definitely sparked my creativity in a different way,&rdquo; she says. Working with Marquez, she adds, always felt like rediscovering the joy of making music: &ldquo;We get so excited when we find that one thing that makes the record. When we find it, the day instantly becomes the best day of our lives.&rdquo;

If production gave Mori a new sense of control, its songwriting demanded the opposite: surrender. The record peels back layers of self-protection, exposing the anxious, questioning voice beneath the surface. That vulnerability is most striking in Trust Me, where she sings, &ldquo;All I ever really want is to feel a little better about myself / No more hurting / I just want you to trust me.&rdquo;&nbsp;
The track was born from her struggles with social anxiety and the pressures of self-perception online. &ldquo;Ultimately, I realized those feelings were coming from within. From the way I think about myself,&rdquo; she reflects. &ldquo;Am I being a good friend? Am I authentic enough? Am I cringe? These are the kinds of questions we ask ourselves, and they all come from within. I&rsquo;m working on simply acknowledging them. It&rsquo;s still a process I&rsquo;m adjusting to.&rdquo;

Beyond its tender admissions, rOe is also about learning to sit with contradictions. For Mori, her twenties feel like a constant swing between childlike wonder and the weight of maturity, and the EP embraces that imbalance instead of trying to resolve it. &ldquo;I think embracing that imbalance is exactly where I&rsquo;m at right now. Being in your twenties is so confusing &mdash; you feel like a complete child in a world that tells you you're old enough to know better, and the truth is, many of us don&rsquo;t. I believe I&rsquo;ll find my way when the time is right, but for now, I&rsquo;m learning to embrace this crooked state of mind,&rdquo; she shares.
Much of that realization comes from looking back. Many of the choices she makes now, Mori admits, are echoes of habits and instincts formed in adolescence. Rather than rejecting them, she&rsquo;s learning to accept them as part of her ongoing growth. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m kind of still a kid, and there's more and more to explore in the world!&rdquo;
If rOe were an object, Mori imagines it as polymer clay &mdash; fragile yet moldable, breakable yet capable of being reconnected. It&rsquo;s an image that captures both the tenderness and resilience at the heart of the project. Vulnerability, for her, isn&rsquo;t a final state but a process: one that bends, reshapes, and leaves room for possibility.

Ena Mori’s ‘rOe’ Is a Vulnerable Soundtrack to Growing Up

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Ena Mori’s ‘rOe’ Is a Vulnerable Soundtrack to Growing Up

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