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Album Review: ‘Rintik’ by Pandai Besi
Beginning as the alternate iteration of indie band Efek Rumah Kaca, Pandai Besi is now learning to become its own band
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Beginning as the alternate iteration of indie band Efek Rumah Kaca, Pandai Besi is now learning to become its own band. While their previous output showcased different arrangements of the Efek Rumah Kaca catalogue, the Jakarta-based seven-piece band is now releasing its first original single.
“Rintik” (Raindrops) was recently released digitally on iTunes, Spotify and Deezer. It was also self-released as a limited edition cassette tape, which also features a remixed version of the song.
The single was written by bass player Poppie Airil, who is also the bass player for Efek Rumah Kaca (replacing original bass player Adrian Yunan, who was taken ill by an optical virus and now is Efek Rumah Kaca’s temporary singer. Confused yet?).
The writing process was not an easy one, especially as the band members knew the song would also mark their first, totally original, release. The change in direction was also brought on by the absence of original Efek Rumah Kaca/ Pandai Besi vocalist-guitarist Cholil Mahmud, who moved to America a few months ago. Now, former backing singers Monica Hapsari and Nastasha Abigail, have collectively taken over the mantle as Pandai Besi’s lead vocalists.
While Pandai Besi began as a way for the three original members of Efek Rumah Kaca to expand the arrangement possibilities of their catalogue, the new band started to gig even more regularly than the original.
“These are difficult times,” says drummer Akbar Sudibyo, one of the original trio who founded Efek Rumah Kaca alongside Cholil and Adrian. “Everyone in Pandai Besi has to be courageous enough to belt out ideas. In a way, it’s like a completely new band.” He says that the writing process for “Rintik” took a long time, both lyrically and musically.
Poppie did not originally intend the composition to be a Pandai Besi song, instead writing it for his own solo material. However, once his band members heard the demo, they believed it could become a Pandai Besi track.
Lyrically, Poppie explains the song is about longing, hopefulness, and family. Family, the bass player explains, is an important theme within the great “Efek Rumah Kaca/ Pandai Besi family”.
“In Efek Rumah Kaca, the arrangements were handled by Cholil, Akbar, Adrian, and later, Poppie,” says Pandai Besi keyboardist Muhammad Asranur, explaining that “Rintik” is the first time the rest of the “family” played an active part in arranging and producing a track.
“I hope people will start to see us as our own entity, even if we are also a big part of the ‘family,’”
Asranur feels that each member of Pandai Besi brings something to the table, including his own “classical music touch.”
“There is always room for improvement in Pandai Besi,” says Poppie, “‘Rintik’ may be the first inkling of this new experience. Of course there will be new experiences going forward, but what they’ll be is something we have yet to discover.”
For “Rintik’s”” release, the band worked closely with artist Ruth Marbun and filmmaker Tumpal Tampubolon, ostensibly to create a visual counterpart to the song, with Ruth providing the album cover illustration and Tumpal producing the music video.
“Lyrically, the song for me paints a picture of a desiring feeling — a cushy possessive quality”, says Ruth.
The band plans on following up “Rintik” with a mini-album, but a longer release may not come anytime soon.
“We’re hoping to release a 4-5 song EP this year. In terms of releasing a full length album, realistically it will be difficult, since experience has taught us that arranging songs together can be a lengthy process, even taking months,” says Asranur.
