LAIR - Ngélar [LP, Guruguru Brain]

In Ngélar—the sextet’s sophomore LP—deeper social narratives and more intimate subject matters are more apparent. In which they speak a lot about ‘tanah’ or ‘land/soil,’ owing a lot to the fact that their hometown, Jatiwangi’s history of being the country’s largest producer of clay/terracotta-based products. The people in Jatiwangi’s intertwining relationship with ‘tanah’ is simply unparalleled—even their instruments are mostly made of terracotta. 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... more credits released February 23, 2024 All songs performed by LAIR and Monica Hapsari LAIR are… Andzar Agung Fauzan (vocals, bass guitar) Karyssa Matindas (vocals) Kiki Permana (percussions) Pipin Muhammad Kaspin (vocals, rhythm guitar) Tamyiz Noor Ramadhan (vocals, percussions) Tedi Nurmanto (vocals, lead guitar) With… Monica Hapsari (vocals, synthesizers, bells) on “Setan Dolbon”, “Kawin Tebu”, and “Bangkai Belantara” All female vocal tracks in this record are by Monica Hapsari Produced by Go Kurosawa Mixed by Go Kurosawa Mastered by Mizuno Soushi Artwork and layout by Fandy Achmad Photograph used on cover by Deby Sucha