Photo credit: Deby Sucha (click for high res)
With their new album ‘Ngélar’ out this Friday, February 23rd via Guruguru Brain, Indonesian collective LAIR today share a second track from the album with an accompanying video, "Setan Dolbon". They have also been confirmed to play at this year's SXSW.
LAIR (pronounced “lah-eer,” a local dialect for the Indonesian word of ‘lahir’, meaning ‘birth’ or, roughly ‘being born’) is a Panturan-soul/funk outfit hailing from Jatiwangi, West Java, Indonesia. Formed in 2018, LAIR’s music, lyrics, and its presentation are vivid, inherently gaudy (in a good way), and honest. The band takes a sizable chunk of inspiration from classical/traditional Panturan Tarling, a form of grassroot musical/performance art popular amongst the people of the northern coast of West and Central Java.
Produced by Go Kurosawa (Kikagaku Moyo) and written with singer/songwriter Monica Hapsari, on 'Ngélar’—the sextet’s second LP- social narratives and intimate subject matters are apparent. In which they speak a lot about ‘tanah’ or ‘land/soil,’ owing a lot to their hometown Jatiwangi’s history of being the country’s largest producer of clay/terracotta-based products. Their intertwining relationship with ‘tanah’ is simply unparalleled—even their instruments are mostly made of terracotta.
Today's new track and video "Setan Dolbon" tells the story of a public-defecating spectre that caused quite a pandemonium in a number of villages in Jatiwangi, Indonesia. They explain:
"Originating from a true story around the year 2013 in a village in Jatiwangi, a troubling phenomenon occurred that instilled fear, suspicion, and mutual accusations among the local residents. At that time, there were repeated discoveries of objects suspected to be human feces in the areas surrounding the residents' housing and even in public spaces. Rumours spread, giving rise to speculations regarding the cause of these findings, ranging from animal mischief, actions of mentally ill patients, to suspicions of black magic rituals for wealth. This unrest peaked within the community, forcing the local police to intervene and participate in the residents' night patrols.
Medical personnel from the Jatiwangi Health Center also took part in investigating the suspected feces. Alarmingly, medical laboratory test results reported that the feces contained both human baby feces and animal feces.
The situation became even stranger when there were rumours of the simultaneous disappearance of the Yellow Bamboo Ruyuk plants/bushes at all the crime scenes. The local residents believed the Yellow Bamboo Ruyuk to be a plant that wards off black magic. The anxiety almost turned into chaos when accusations began to fly among the residents, especially towards those who suddenly appeared to have excess wealth. The police, village officials, and local religious figures eventually agreed to advise the residents to seek refuge in God and religion, and not to let the slander escalate. To this day, this sensational case has never been resolved, leading residents to always seek refuge in God and Religion when recalling the case, which eventually became known as the legend of the DOLBON DEMON."
Lair and Monica Hapsari hope that their single, Dolbon Demon, can serve as a reminder to all listeners to always be vigilant and careful, to not be easily stirred by unsettling issues, and not to be swayed by the temptations of the Demon, commenting: "Enjoy and may it be a blessing for oneself and everyone."
"Setan Dolbon" video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uWZJ5akONzE
Pre-order/pre-save ‘Ngélar’: https://snipfeed.co/gurugurubrain
From the reimagining of their hometown’s past glories, LAIR, along with singer/songwriter Monica Hapsari (who co-wrote and co-composed three songs in the album) and Go Kurosawa (Kikagaku Moyo) helming the project as the producer, sings about the rituals and traditions of harvest, to sending off prayers towards their once-prospering land and the ruins of what was once a dense forest in Jatiwangi, which they are currently trying to reclaim while racing with the massive wave of industrialisation. It is a contextually-sorrowful album as much as it is a candid, cheery commemoration of the band members’ everyday life in today’s northern shores of Java, Indonesia.
‘Ngélar’ is one of the words that might be able to describe the essence of LAIR as a group. The word itself can be traced back to the locals’ culture of ‘going around in celebration of something.’ In their village, ngélar simply means a traveling performance, in which the performers would play music and go around the village, greeting the people around them as they move from place to place, or simply within their immediate surroundings, indicating that there is something nearby that is being celebrated.
Taken outside of the group’s narratives, the music and lyrics speak for themselves, relaying in detail, through aural means, how it is to live on the northern shores of the island of Java. The feeling of salt in the humid air; The tiniest drop of sweat as it runs down the neck of truckers zooming down the hectic roads of Pantura; Posters of the coming election candidates plastered throughout the villages; The lingering smell of burnt chaff in the air; The garish set of stickers decorating the windshield of rundown public transports, braving every pothole with their dangerously-rickety wheels; And, most of all, the scorching heat. All lovingly communicated through the charming perspective of the locals.
LAIR is simply in love with ‘journey,’ ‘time,’ and all of their interactions. ‘Ngélar’, for them, is a representation of their journey. How they go around, interacting and communicating, to celebrating and making sense of everything that is going on within and around them. For LAIR, ‘Ngélar’ is a method, a creative process, and—as an album—a culmination of each of their journeys since the group’s founding.
‘Ngélar’ will be released on February 23rd via Guruguru Brain. Pre-order here.
LAIR are:
Karyssa Matindas (Ica) - vocals
Tedi Nurmanto (Tedi) - vocals, lead guitar
Andzar Agung Fauzan (A’af) - vocals, bass guitar
Tamyiz Noor (Tamtam) - vocals, tambourine, percussion
Kiki Permana (Kiki) - percussion
Pipin Muhammad Kaspin (Pipin/Kutreng) - vocals, rhythm guitar
With longtime collaborator
Monica Hapsari (Monic) - vocals, synthesisers, bells
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