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Rock upstart Normatif talks socially charged debut album, fraternal chemistry, cultism
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Turning into ash: Cover artwork of debut album 'Normatif I: Seharusnya/Sepantasnya' (What should be/what ought to be) by alt-rock duo Normatif (Courtesy of Normatif) (Courtesy of Normatif/Courtesy of Normatif)
P
oetry, social criticism and electronic distortions: Alternative rock duo Normatif introduces their brand of rock with debut album Normatif I: Seharusnya/Sepantasnya.
There is a song on Normatif's debut full-length album Normatif I: Seharusnya/Sepantasnya (What should be/what ought to be), released digitally on April 28, called "Menuju Utopia" (Toward utopia).
In it, the featured but uncredited lyricist delivers a few verses over a somber piano: "Salah dan benar telah menjadi abu / Di mana keadilan telah membisu / Di mana kepedihan terus menderu / Kepada siapakah kami beradu" (Right and wrong have turned into ash / Where justice has been muted / Where misery continues to grumble / To whom can we lament).
This poetry to music, composed by the duo’s guitarist Adri Fachrisyah Maulana, 21, provides a glimpse into what Normatif wants to deliver, both as a rock act and as human beings: The idea that humanity's moral conscience has perhaps reached the point of senselessness.
More precisely, "The truth has become relative," as the duo's vocalist and Adri's younger brother Ahmad Faisal "Ical" Maulana, 19, told The Jakarta Post on May 15.
The alternative rock duo's socially and politically charged album might make a case for one of the more complex debuts in the Indonesian music industry in recent memory. A melting pot of social observations, poetic verses, electronic distortions and stadium-ready guitar licks, Normatif I: Seharusnya/Sepantasnya is a debut record that is not only meant to showcase the rock newcomer’s potential, but also the je ne sais quoi of their artistry.
