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Six young composers pushing Indonesian music forward
These young musicians are breaking boundaries and challenging conventions.
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Mysterious: You won't find footage or recordings of Kadapat's immersive live performances online, but an album is on the way. (Courtesy of Kadapat) (Personal collection/Courtesy of Kadapat)
I
ndonesia has never had a shortage of forward-thinking musicians across the spectrum of sound. From the avant-garde compositions of Slamet Abdul Sjukur and the progressive madness of Discus to the current experimental champions Senyawa, the country’s musicians turn its rich sonic palette and complex folklore into genre-defying music.
That desire to push things forward persists in the country’s younger musicians. From Papuan field recording masters to mysterious Balinese gamelan troupes, here are some young composers to look out for.
Rollfast
Denpasar, Bali
These three young guns have given a masterclass in delivering the unexpected. In their debut album, Lanes Oil, Dream is Pry (2015), the group made a case for being one of the country’s most promising psych rock outfits, mixing beefy guitar riffs with a penchant for swaggering machismo.
Fast forward five years, and they blew it all away on their sophomore album, Garatuba (2020). Their sneering, contemplative lyrics tackled the seedy underbelly of Balinese life, including toxic masculinity, the island’s myriad of ghosts and folklore and the struggles of those marginalized by the caste system.
