Dopamine — a chemical property released before and during a particularly anticipated moment in a song — makes us happy, alert. It cues memory recall, simpler times; it takes us away from the otherwise moving seconds.

This convoluted way of explaining how music evokes several different emotions at once was lost on me as I was sitting in Jaya Pub in Gedung Jaya, the 41-year-old bar located across from Sarinah shopping center with old-timey paraphernalia and dimly lit surroundings.

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I was there to see Young Magic, one of the bands scheduled to perform at the monthly Superbad (in its 77th iteration), a festival by Keke Tumbuan and Indra Ameng of the Secret Agents, a duo of art and music-show organizers.

Young Magic is the duo of Indonesiaborn Melati Malay and Australian Isaac Emmanuel, both now based in Brooklyn, New York. Their music — rhythmic synths with pulsating bass line and ominous drums, coupled with Melati’s shadowy voice — is heady and challenging.

Talented duo: With its changing lineup, Young Magic has released three albums of engrossing electronica.(Landon Speers/File)

In a Young Magic song, some cathartic reward may come at the end — and you have to wade through the slow-burn of Melati and Isaac’s experimental edges.

Simply put, Young Magic reminded me of my brain. It was all on them that there was a tab open about music and its neuroscience correlations on my phone.

What doesn’t help is a quick listen to Young Magic’s latest LP, the ghastly Still Life, out in 2016 on Carpark Records. Written during Melati’s trip across Indonesia (and in the wake of her father’s death), the music smacks of traditional influences, produced so carefully as to avoid the tired trope of exoticizing. The beats in Still Life bring the phrase “bedroom music” to mind; there’s no way that they translate well on stage.

Except that they did. That night, they played in front of a somber-looking backdrop: Melati with her guitar, Isaac with his synth/drum pad. (At one point, there was a short video in black and white of several ladies twirling. “Eerie” doesn’t even cut it.)

And then there were two, playing before an excited crowd in the haze of vape and cigarette smoke. There was the sound of an emulated gamelan, the screech of Melati’s guitar, the hush of the night.

Before Young Magic came on, deltablues guitarist and singer Adrian Adioetomo played an exuberant set that at some point involved him getting off the stage for a celebratory guitar workout.

A Fine Tuning Creation, the project of one Aryo Adhianto, came on next with his hypnotizing, keyboard-filled set. It was a little jarring that the onetwo-three punch of blues and electronica worked the way it did. The DJ set by Divisi 62 also closed out the night on a jubilant note.

Melati said that Still Life was her way of battling the demons that took form in the death of a parent. Or simply just someone really close.

Still Life speaks the language of fear and confusion; nothing about the beats sounding fun and punchy, even on that particular night when people used hanging trumpets when applause just wasn’t enough. No matter how heavy the subject matter was, it was still cool to see Young Magic that night. It was cool to be reminded of what a singing brain could do to a person, it was even cooler that music just happened to be playing in the back.

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