Indie singer Ratih Suryahutamy – known by her stage name Neonomora – is fully aware of the stigma toward female artists who talk about their personal life in their songs. In fact, this sort of criticism even came from those closest to her. 

“A friend of a friend made a rumor about me saying that I’m an attention-seeking [expletive] for using my personal life story in my songs,” the 33-year-old told The Jakarta Post in a recent interview.

Between her divorce in December 2018 and the pandemic, which also saw the divorce of her parents (“I took it heavily,” she added), Neonomora conceded that she was merely trying to open up herself. 

“I guess I am more revealing in my songs than I am as a person. I don’t really talk about my personal life – not even to my family or close friends. It’s a privilege that I can just put that [emotional] weight into my creativity,” she said.

With Seeds (2014) and Waters (2018), Neonomora described herself as a young girl who wanted to have a breakthrough in the music industry who does not just talk about heartbreaks.

“I was so young – I wanted to talk about politics and things that people don’t talk about,” she said.

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