JAKARTA, biem.co – 2023 marks the end of the long wait for a new major body of work by Hindia, one of Indonesia’s most illustrious songwriters and musicians in recent years. Distributed by Sun Eater to digital platforms on March 3, 2023, “Janji Palsu” (“Empty Promises”) is the hard-hitting lead single from Lagipula Hidup Akan Berakhir (Life Will End Anyway), Hindia’s second full-length album that will be released in two installments on July 7 and 21, 2023, respectively.
Following the lead of his 2019 debut album Menari dengan Bayangan (Dancing with Shadows), Baskara Putra a.k.a. Hindia continues to expose his inner thoughts on Lagipula Hidup akan Berakhir, with “Janji Palsu” being chosen as lead single due to its encapsulation of the album’s themes. “ ‘Janji Palsu’ more or less sums up what I talk about throughout this second album. On one hand, there’s a desperation that I, and other people my age, feel due to everything that makes living seem futile,” says Hindia.
“On the other hand, the song also talks about the pressure I’ve felt as a ‘musician’ over the past few years. I’ve been publicly harassed and condemned, and sometimes people even make stuff up just to stir trouble. In addition, the things I’ve felt and talked about in all sincerity, such as mental stability, have been increasingly commodified and reduced to content. So this song is quite representative of the album’s throughlines, while explaining why the album exists and what drove me to create it.”
On “Janji Palsu”, Hindia’s signature sharp, angst-filled lyrics are set to an aggressive, mid-tempo musical bed courtesy of Enrico Octaviano, Hindia’s Lomba Sihir bandmate who was entrusted to produce the track and to also be one of Lagipula Hidup akan Berakhir’s two main producers along with Kareem Soenharjo. “I think Enrico and Kareem are the best producers of my generation. They are the two people I trust to help me deliver what I want to say,” says Hindia. “It just happens that I felt this song was more suited to Enrico’s songwriting and producing style.”
Besides having Enrico as producer and co-composer with Baskara, “Janji Palsu” also includes contributions from several familiar names in the Hindia circle – such as Rayhan Noor on electric guitar and Petra Sihombing on acoustic guitar – as well as new collaborators like Gamaliel Tapiheru who acted as vocal director and provided backing vocals. There’s also an old-yet-new face in the form of Adrian Mahendra, who happens to be Hindia’s older brother and plays bass on the track.
With the phenomenal success achieved by Menari dengan Bayangan since its 2019 release – including over 100 million Spotify plays each for the tracks “Evaluasi” (“Evaluation”), “Secukupnya” (“Sufficiently”) and “Rumah ke Rumah” (“Home to Home”), winning an AMI Awards trophy, and providing catharsis for who knows how many listeners – inevitably there’s a lot of expectation for Hindia to do it all again. “Looking at the success of the first album, I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t daunting.
But I always look at my albums as my children, and each child finds its own fortune,” says Hindia. “The main purpose of this single and album was for my own pleasure and needs, and I created the first album with the same motivation. As it turned out, what I experienced and learned on Menari dengan Bayangan could benefit so many others in numerous ways. I hope that ‘Janji Palsu’ will also prove to be useful once people listen to it.” (BW)
