Listen to Barasuara’s moody, orchestral new single ‘Merayakan Fana’

Barasuara have returned with their sweeping new single, ‘Merakayan Fana’. 

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The track – its title roughly translating to ‘Celebrating Mortals’ – finds the band grappling with death and mortality against ornate orchestration alongside driving drums and distorted guitars. Employing atypical features including a funky bass breakdown and an extended symphonic outro, the track swiftly shifts in mood and timbre for a vibrant listening experience.

Listen to ‘Merayakan Fana’ below.

In a press release, bassist Gerald Situmorang stated that though the track was originally written on guitar, the track developed to incorporate ideas to the point of roping in an orchestral arranger. “I suddenly thought of using an orchestra,” Situmorang said. “The song itself wasn’t fully finished yet, but I contacted [arranged] Erwin Gutawa. From the beginning until we recorded the orchestral part, it took more than a year.”

The track is the second preview of the band’s upcoming third album, following their July 2022 single ‘Fatalis’. Additional details of the album, including its title and release date, have yet to be announced.

Barasuara made their debut with the 2015 full-length ‘Taifun’ (‘Typhoon’), which was followed four years later with their 2019 sophomore album ‘Pikiran dan Perjalanan’, which was previewed by the 2018 single ‘Guna Manusia’. In 2020, vocalist Puti Chitara released her latest solo EP ‘Reminisce’, marking 10 years of her career as a solo artist. To date, she has released two full-length albums, namely her 2013 debut album ‘Sarsaparilla Dream’, and her sophomore album ‘Goodnight’, which was released in 2016.

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