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Album Review: 7 Bidadari by Naif
Age has definitely tempered their impulses, the same ones that breathed enduring spontaneity into their music.
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Album Review: 7 Bidadari by Naif (Naif/File)
Remember the police siren?
It rings as Naif, the Jakarta pop rock band formed 22 years ago, sings of a protagonist whose race car gets a visit from an officer. He crashes it into a tree, having just run the red lights. The “Mobil Balap” (Race Car) song remains their calling card — a song marked so well by its youthful flair that generations grew up listening to them. It is bewilderingly odd, more of a slapstick comedy than an anthem for the young.
And Naif — comprised of Franki “Pepeng” Indrasmoro (drums), David Bayu (vocals), Fajar Endra “Jarwo” Taruna (guitar) and Mohammad Amil “Emil” Hussein (bass) — has just put out a new album, its seventh full length, called 7 Bidadari (Seven Angels). Here is what the band’s longevity has gotten its members so far: Performing actual riots of a show each time, a tribute album in their name and a hosting gig on a TV game show for David. 7 Bidadari comes as a surprise, released after 2011’s Planet Cinta injected stillness into their set list.
Age has definitely tempered their impulses, the same ones that breathed enduring spontaneity into their music.
The hyper-specific influences — the roti buayas and the binarias — and their sweet, imperishable schmaltz (“Jikalau” [If], “Karena Kamu Cuma Satu” [Because There’s Just One of You]) have given way to a more playful, though slightly subdued iteration of Naif. This proves to have somewhat of an adverse impact on me; not that the album’s a bore (it’s most definitely not), but it does make me nostalgic of the Naif of the past.
But after Planet Cinta’s well-trodden gloom, it is nice to hear Naif back, making these uncomplicated, romantic cuts.
That said, the album starts off unceremoniously: “Alangkah Indahnya Indonesia” (How Beautiful Indonesia Is) could most definitely soundtrack a forgettable tourism commercial — Jarwo’s reliable solo is here and it does share the similar straightforwardness of their 1998 self-titled record.
The second track, though festooned by a jazzy piano and a big-band coda, sounds like one of those “if it ain’t broke” songs; Naif’s naturalistic approach to music looms large.
The album gets more exciting from there on out. I could count the title track (inspired by the story of the Javanese folklore Jaka Tarub) as one of Naif’s best songs — “Semua pasti bisa / bila kau selalu percaya” (Everything can happen / if you always believe), David sings.
One element that anchors the album’s varied musicianship is the strings. On this track and on the dirge “Berubah” (Change), the strings turn Naif’s traditional songs into rousing statements of intent. David’s vocals on this track and Jarwo’s tag-team guitar work with the strings sound mournful and great, making it more than just another Naif song.
Oh and hey, there’s a seruling (traditional west Javanese flute) and a gendang (traditional Javanese percussion) — instruments that make dangdut music such a unique artefact — on the tracks “Sedjak” (Since - and look, an old form of Indonesian spelling!), “Apa Yang Membuatmu Untuk Terus Di Sini” (What Makes You Still Here) and the excellent closer “Sayang Disayang” (Love Loved). Naif has found its footing once again as an unabashedly fun band to sing, dance and, in some cases, jump to.
For what it is, 7 Bidadari is an enjoyable addition to Naif’s entire canon. The pretext, however, is even more hopeful: Naif, one of the most exciting bands to have ever come out of Indonesia, is still going. Their ideals were never compromised — our experience of listening to and watching them will never go south. With 7 Bidadari, it’s nice to know that Naif, once inspiring an older generation, will inspire a new one in its wake.
