MANILA, Philippines—Narciso Chan, sales and marketing director of Sony BMG’s Philippine office, was only too glad to receive a call from one of the label’s top-selling pop artists.

The caller was Ariel Rivera. It turned out to be more than just a hi-hello: By the time they hung up, they had agreed to sit down with label bosses to discuss a new album.

Rivera, dubbed “Kilabot ng Kolehiyala” in the ’90s—a term he detested—had been away from the music scene, preoccupied with a second career as a TV actor.

“I wanted to sing again,” Ariel told the Philippine Daily Inquirer in an interview at the Sony BMG Pasig office. “I was gone four years and missed it.”

With the recently released album aptly titled “Once Again,” the 42-year-old balladeer returns to form. The carrier track, “Softly Saying Sorry,” has been playing on the radio for the past several months. It sounds very familiar, with the kind of pop hook that would make a fan rush to the mall for a quick ringtone or single download, or buy the CD.

It is one of nine originals (by various songwriters led by John Borja) out of 11 tracks, and Ariel is particularly proud of this. “When I sat down with Vic Valenciano (A&R director), I brought along 10 CDs of cover songs,” Ariel said. “But I wasn’t too keen on it. They wanted the album fast, pero ayoko talaga ng covers.”

Before recording started, Ariel had convinced Sony BMG that they should junk the all-covers formula and find original stuff instead.

Choosing the right songs took a long time. The singer and label execs started listening to demos early last year. In eight months, he got to listen to 18 compositions, which were eventually narrowed down to the tracks that made it.

Ariel explained why he felt strongly against an all-covers album: “Hindi ako ang original singer. When I’m gone 20 years from now and people hear that song, it still won’t be mine. Second, nanghihinayang ako sa magagaling na songwriters sa Pilipinas. Dahil nauso na naman ang covers, nagma-migrate na ’yung iba. I know quite a few...Aaron Paul, Tito Cayamanda...who wrote a lot of my songs and have stopped writing altogether.”

Asked why the new album sounds like the Ariel of the ’90s, he explained: “Once you’re comfortable or identified with a genre, you can’t stray far from it. People don’t like it. For example, if I did soft rock all of a sudden...‘What the hell is he doing?’ Parang ganun. I’m comfortable as a balladeer. That’s also the kind of music I listen to. I enjoy it; that’s why I do it.”