KUALA LUMPUR, October 22 — If appreciating emotional lyrics while enjoying catchy riffs with mesmerising vocals is your thing, then this Indonesian rock band Barasuara might just be for you.

Formed in 2011, the Jakarta-based band is known for their sounds which combine elements of rock, folk and traditional Indonesian melodies (with sprinklings of jazz and blues) coupled with expressive lyrics that are often emotional or touch on social issues.

Barasuara comprises of five members — with Iga Massardi (frontman and guitarist), Gerald Situmorang (bassist), Marco Steffiano (drummer), TJ Kusuma (guitarist) along with Esterika and Puti Chitara (vocalists).

Since their formation, the band has made its impact felt on the Indonesian music scene from their including earning themselves accolades such as the 2016 Anugerah Musik Indonesia Best Newcomer award from the get-go and the 2016 Rolling Stone Indonesia Editor’s Choice Awards for Best Live Act category.

Bassist, Gerald, is also a known musician who had won a couples of awards in the Best Instrumental Production category at the 2017 and 2018 AMI for his songs from his solo album Dimensions and had also collaborated on a jazz fusion album titled Meta with Indonesian pianist Sri Hanuraga.

He was also the music director for the recent adaptation of 1975’s Rock Opera Ken Arok by late singer song-writer Harry Roesli — a progressive rock theatre play focusing on social commentary on corruption, at this year’s Synchronize Music Festival in Jakarta.

Barasuara are no strangers when it comes to social commentary in its three studio albums to date — with their latest one Jalaran Sadrah released in June featuring the topic of death and life after death.

Having that conversation

Speaking with Malay Mail, Iga said death was a recurring theme in their latest nine-track album is because the album was created during the Covid-19 pandemic where many, including the band members themselves experienced loss of loved ones.

"The feeling of the album is about surrendering and looking back at how we perceived death as it is.

"It doesn’t necessarily have to be sadness, it could be peaceful and it could be relief. It is sincerity and acceptance.

"Jalaran Sadrah itself means ‘kerana pasrah’ (because of surrendering to fate),” Iga said.

The album also comes with powerful messages against oppression and abuse of power.

This can be heard multiple times on the album such as the ‘punya orang tua berkuasa/ merasa bebas untuk menganiaya’ (having elders in power/ who persecute as they will) lines from the Etalase track.

Or Habis Gelap which talks about the ongoing genocide in Palestine by the Israelis with harrowing lyrics such as ‘habis gelap, tiada terang/ kilat cahya pecah tangis di dalam senyap’ (At the end of darkness, there is no light/a flash of light reveals cries in silence)

"It’s because I’m a human being. We don’t need any resources (in order to talk about) humanity.

"What more explanation do we need? We saw the images, the videos and all the graphics,” Iga said on his motivation behind Habis Gelap.

Vocalist Puti points out that they are using their platform as musicians to voice out these vices.

"I don’t know how Malaysians can relate to this but for us Indonesians, it is really relatable,” Puti said when asked about the lines from the Etalase track.

Barasuara continues to push their narrative against prejudice, which began from their debut Taifun, which included hits with deep lyrics such as Hagia on religious tolerance as well as the rebellious anthem in Api dan Lentera.

Working with legends

After almost a decade in the music industry, the band collaborated with renowned artists on their new album.

For example in the Merayakan Fana, the band was backed by the sounds of the Czech Symphony Orchestra led by Indonesian maestro Erwin Gutawa.

They have also collaborated with renowned Indonesian humanitarian, actor and musician Sujiwa Tejo, who is known for his theatre plays and poems, on their javanese-language track ‘Biyang’.

The track penned by their vocalist Esterika, said that the word biyang means ‘mother’ or ‘source’, with the Javanese language being a choice as it represented most of the band members ethnicity except for Gerald, who is ethnic Batak.

"We always have a very huge attachment with someone who has raised us, it could be our parents or grandparents.

"Those who have taught us so many things growing up and everyone has their ‘source’ which has shaped us as human beings,” Esterika said.

She added that working with Sujiwo was a dream come true for her as she has been a fan of him since she was in high school.

Although she wished to collaborate with Sujiwo during the making of the song, she did not expect it to actually happen.

The collaboration came after Iga reached out to his father who iss also a novelist and an acquaintance of Sujiwo.

At the moment, Barasuara is in the midst of promoting their Jalaran Sadrah album by touring Indonesia and neighbouring countries and they are planning to do a Southeast Asia tour next year.

Although it is too early to be asking Barasuara about their next album, we did.

"Come on! We just finished this album!

"It took us four years and you’re already asking about the next one?!” Puti jokes.

However, she did share that they have already recorded some new material for their upcoming project.