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Hijau Daun Ripens With Time
Melayu pop band Hijau Daun returned with a new studio album, offering an alternative in the current dangdut and pop soloist-saturated music scene
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Melayu pop band Hijau Daun returned with a new studio album, offering an alternative in the current dangdut and pop soloist-saturated music scene.
Under a new recording label, Warner Music, the Lampung-based band released their fourth record Cahaya Cinta (Love Light) last month with the acclaimed single 'Lima Menit' (Five Minutes).
In this most recent album, Hijau Daun ' consisting of vocalist/songwriter Dide, guitarists Array and Arya, bassist Richan and drummer Denny ' experimented with various music genres.
'We'd like to give our listeners a new experience and see how we have progressed so far,' said Dide in a recent interview.
In 'Guna-guna' (Jinx), the band used the sound of a traditional genre known as keroncong for the bridge. They sampled a ukulele in 'Ingatku' (My Memory) and a reggae beat in 'Kekasih Cadangan' (Spare Lover).
Richan said that unlike their earlier works, they avoided using complex musical arrangements for the new album, which consisted of nine new tracks and a new arrangement of their debut single 'Suara' (Voice) sung by Australian-Indonesian Sheryl Gething, better known by her stage name Shae.
'It's fresh, light and easy listening. The songs are easy to sing along with. And although the songs are mostly about new love or heartbreak, they are far from mellow,' he said.
Melayu pop music is distinguished by repetitive tunes and melodious pitch accents in vocalist's performance of the songs.
These elements are the main characters of Hijau Daun, with the high tenor vocals of Dide and unusual lyrics (with intriguing titles) as its signature.
In the religious population of Indonesia, some people had questioned the use of the word 'jinx' in the song.
'It's not about black magic at all. The lyrics tell a story of a man who falls for a long-time friend he never had a crush on. It is common among people to suspect a jinx if they do not see another reason for why something is happening, but it's more like a light joke among friends,' said Dide.
In 'Lima Menit', the band used playful sarcasm to make fun of the overused phrase by people often waiting.
Similar word play was seen in their song 'Malaikat Pencabut Rindu', a twist from the Grim Reaper that instead of wishing death, a man asked for an angel to take away the pain of longing.
'I'm avoiding clichés,' said Dide, who wrote all the lyrics. 'I prefer using terms or phrases widely used in conversation but never in songs.'
Hijau Daun, which was formed in 2001 as the members often met during music festivals while still in high school, debuted in 2008 with their album Ikuti Cahaya (Follow the Light).
Their second album was released in 2011 titled Bersama Terang (With the Glow). The third album, 3-in-1, was a compilation with two other groups under Sony BMG, at that time, Vagetoz and The Potter's.
'We have a thing with the word 'light' as we associated it with our success,' said Dide.
Although each member has a different taste in music ' Arya, for example, was more into European rock while Denny's musical hero is Dream Theater ' they named Indonesian rock bands Padi and Dewa 19 that became big names in the industry in the late 1990s as their inspiration.
The band's name, which means 'green leaf' in Indonesian, was inspired by 'padi', an Indonesian word for paddy.
'As teens we covered Padi's songs and were encouraged by the simple music and strong lyrics to form our own band,' said Dide.
The pupil became a teacher when Dewa's leader Ahmad Dhani took a bar from Hijau Daun's song and inserted it in his song 'Selir Hati' (Concubine of the Heart).
Arya said that as a band that has lasted for more than 13 years, they had learned from their experience on the stage and honed their skills by learning from other musicians.
'We still have a lot to learn. I hope our listeners can see how we changed for the better all these years.'
Live on stage, Hijau Daun is typically a different band as they usually rearrange their songs, except for their debut song 'Suara', to fit with their personal musical preferences.
'I wish someday we can perform with Slank,' said Array, a guitar collector. Slank is the most popular rock group existing.
Hijau Daun was convinced that they too would be in the industry for a long time.
'We are confident in our music. No matter how fierce the competition will be in the future, we will still have our market. For them, we will keep making music.'
