Preceded by a series of 45s recorded for Bongo Joe, the debut of Nusantara Beat, a group of Indonesian origins, sees the light of day on Glitterbeat.
For bassist Michael Joshua Yonata – the only member born in Indonesia, the rest of the members were born in the Netherlands – guitarist Jordy Sanger, singer Megan De Clerk, keyboardist and guitarist Rouzy Portier, drummer Sonny Groeneveld and percussionist Gino Groeneveld, this project represents the recovery of the musical tradition of their country of origin, a more complex reality than one might imagine, as the families originate from different parts of the archipelago Indonesian, where around a hundred different ethnic groups coexist.
Coming from the scene funk-psych of Amsterdam, the band focused attention first on the Sundanese tradition and then on the Balinese one, to then broaden the horizons and cultural spectrum of the project (Nusantara stands for “Indonesian archipelago”), while remaining faithful to the music of the 60s and 70s, that is, that Indonesian sunshine-pop contaminated by Western music but not by the advent of rock.
The psychedelic matrix of much ethnic music produced in the 60s and 70s is nothing new, just remember the great season of psych-rock coming from Anatolia: for Nusantara Beat, it is a starting point for shaping traditional, funky, surf and pop music.
The mix of traditional instruments (Balinese gongs, zithers and drums kendang) and modern (guitars and synthesizers) is singular and modern at the right point, the songs are mainly airy and sunny (“Di Pantai”), but they do not disdain atmospheric noir and mysterious (“Bakar”, “Ke Masa Lalù”). There is no lack of similarities with the Khruangbin (“Bunga Mekar”), between funky impulses (“Ular Ular”), ethno-folk delights (“Kalangkang”) and overwhelming groove pop-rock (the single “Tamar”), which create a whole that is both pleasant (“Gapura”, “Cinta Itu Menyakitkan”) and not without some surprises that deserve a more careful listen (“Hilang Kendali”).
Honor and credit to Nusatara Beat for having avoided the purely retro effect and for having opened a new page of Indonesian pop music by projecting it into the present.
29/11/2025
Daniel D`Amico for SANREMO.FM
