The first thing you notice about Labit’s music is the feeling. It’s warm, like a shot of espresso mixed with a sunny California morning. Born Stephen Ordoñez in Mountain View, California, and raised partly in San Diego, the Filipino-American singer-songwriter has spent the last few years building a sound that’s as introspective as it is irresistibly catchy.
His upcoming album, SOL, is the biggest statement yet from the Los Angeles-based artist. Due out on October 17th, it’s a project named for his Grandma Sol and rooted in the lessons she taught him.
“I named it after my grandma because of all the conversations that we had when I was growing up,” Labit shared. “She could sit in a room and say five words, and it would mean more than an entire conversation. She taught me a lot about balance and understanding that there are different sides to every story, and being patient, loving, and caring, and leading with that, leading with love.”
SOL collects singles Labit has been releasing over the past year, creating a full picture of an artist grappling with adulthood, love, and identity. The song “SOL” itself was one of the last tracks written for the record, but it became the emotional centerpiece.
“For a long time, I was trying to figure out what that common thread was in this album,” he admitted. But as he looked back at the songs—which cover everything from new relationships to being broke—the answer became clear. “The through-line was what I would lean on to get me through everything is how I was raised and that advice from her… It was your roots. So it only felt natural.”
From Pop-Punk to Personal Songs
Labit’s journey into music wasn’t a sudden flash. It was a slow, organic pull. He took piano lessons as a child and learned guitar in middle school, which led to an unexpected period as a pop-punk guitarist.
“I got cut my second year,” Labit recalled about his sports career. “And at the same time, there was a Battle of the Bands going on. Me and a couple of my friends were forming a band and it just felt the direction it was. I felt stuff was pushing me in that direction anyway.”
That moment of displacement became a moment of discovery. “I felt a solace in music and writing and telling my stories that way,” he said. The joy he found in songwriting was the steady constant, the thing he wanted to pursue above all else.
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Today, his music incorporates that high-energy past with R&B smoothness and indie sensibilities. When asked about his fluid genre, he pointed to one key element that ties everything together: the story.
“I realized that the main thread in between everything that I like, no matter what the genre is, is more the stories that the people were telling,” Labit explained. He sees the sound as a stylistic choice that serves the emotional core. “I just try to think about that first and foremost and how do I convey the emotion the best way that I can.”
Finding “PARALLEL”
The album’s latest single, “PARALLEL,” has brought Labit new listeners and a stunning visual. The upbeat track is a moment of clarity about finding love in an unexpected place.
“I wrote it about the night that I met my girlfriend,” Labit revealed. “It’s really just about finding, or finding love and new life in ways, like in places that you never would have expected and places right beside you.”
The music video, directed by the duo hazart (whom he met while walking his dog), takes a personal approach to the simple joy of listening to a great song. Hazart pitched the idea of that “car karaoke” moment you get in a taxi, but Labit made it his own.
The video takes place in a spot-on replica of his Grandma Sol’s Buick LeSabre. It shows 12 diverse groups of people across the world—from Bangkok to London—all sharing that moment of connection, reinforcing the song’s theme of universal “PARALLELS.”
Speaking to a Community
For Labit, making personal music quickly became about more than just himself. As a Filipino-American artist, he recognizes the importance of visibility. His track, “MANGOES & RICE,” is a direct nod to his cultural background.
“I think it’s important that people know that I’m Filipino,” he emphasized. “I just remember when I grew up, there was not a lot of pillars that I could look up to, that were Filipino or that looked like me or wanted to do the same thing that I did.”
His purpose extends beyond his own ambition; it’s about inspiring the next generation. “I love being seen as a Filipino American artist to where, hopefully there’s a kid somewhere… will find my music and feel inspired and feel seen.”
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Looking ahead, Labit remains focused on the fundamentals. He is already working on his next project, but he’s keeping his process pressure-free.
“I want to be able to share my music with as many people as possible, but even more importantly, make sure that I’m making music that I’m proud of,” he concluded. “I want to continue to release music that I’m proud of and then play more shows and hopefully play live and connect with fans in real life. I’m just trying to keep it simple, trying to keep it tunnel vision and make the music that I want to make. The rest of the stuff will kind of figure itself out.
Listen to Labit on Spotify
