Amongst the current rising wave of artists in the local music scene, lies one appropriately named Seaside. The band that made their debut at the end of 2013, released their full studio album titled Undone just last year under Anoa Records.
It all began with Andi Sabarudin, a guitarist who has trotted around with bands such as The Upstairs, C’mon Lennon, Blossom Diary and many more, and Stacy, a vocalist from CODA (Australia). Vocalist, Cassandra, joins him as well along with Adi Sus as bassist and Hersubhan Edien on the drums. Prior to signing on to their current record label, the band uploaded their demo material on Soundcloud, which gained their early batch of followers. Since then, the band still regularly updates their page either with studio rehearsal versions or remixes which can be heard here: https://soundcloud.com/seaside_indonesia
Listeners are greeted with a strong, promising start from their opening song, “In the Morning”. The first half of Undone continues to compel with the track “Silent Girl.” Its soft female vocals, which contrasts against the heavy bass and drumming may be a bit of a surprise to the ears but after a while it starts to grow on you. “Red Lantern” and “Giggle and Blush” provide an upbeat tempo with quirky bubble-like sound effects and guitar solos. These tracks stand out from the rest as it achieved a catchy tune that is worthy of becoming the album’s single.
Towards the second half of the album, the band takes a turn from the tuneful tracks to a darker tone with the songs “Dreaming”, “Wrong To Keep” and “A Blue Star”. The melodies in “Dreaming” and “Wrong To Keep” results in haunting and eerie vocals along with the somber lyrics and its delivery. The band also showed their experimental side for the song “A Blue Star”, a spoken-sung track added a bit of variety to the album.
Their self-titled song “Seaside” has hypnotic vocals that is complimented by the layers of guitar melodies that intertwine and unravels as the song progresses. This song along with the simple guitar harmonies in “You Are Loved” give a refreshing feel and serve as a break from the reverb and delayed guitar riffs from the previous tracks.
The dream-like state of these tracks, wonderfully infused with elements of psychedelic and 90s rock, create a perfect accompaniment for unwinding on a Sunday. If Undone is the first of many albums by Seaside, the band will quickly attain a following they surely deserve from the local music scene.
article written by: Suka Junin
