Reikko: the Indonesian singer who channelled romantic trauma into a hyperpop reinvention

Life rarely goes according to plan for Reikko. Initially a dime-a-dozen office worker, the 25-year-old had never imagined she would end up pursuing music professionally. Exploring R&B music at the start of her career, she had never thought that she’d end up releasing a hyperpop project.

Most significantly, perhaps, is how Reikko had never envisioned her debut record being inspired by emotions such as indignation and rage. After all, the Jakarta native had never considered herself the fiery type – until now.

“I used to think that my music would be about happy, lovey-dovey stuff. You know, about healthy relationships and finding yourself and blah blah blah,” she tells NME cheekily. “I never thought I would end up making such an angry and angsty body of work.”

“I used to think that my music would be about happy, lovey-dovey stuff… I never thought I would end up making such an angry and angsty body of work”

“Angry” and “angsty” are just some of the spirited adjectives that could describe Reikko’s debut EP, ‘No More Feelings’. Throughout its six tracks, the artist brashly recounts the emotional trauma that she had to endure in an on-and-off romance that turned toxic. ‘No More Feelings’ also serves as Reikko’s sort of re-introduction to the music industry, as she switches gears from the R&B that once put her on the map to a more unpredictable, high-energy sound that also draws inspiration from electro-pop, dance music and punk.

‘No More Feelings’ marks an ambitious transformation, but Reikko underscores that it was not a quick one: “I went through a lot of musical phases – a lot of phases and a lot of shit,” she chuckles.

Born Carissa Suhendra but nicknamed Reikko by her father, she grew up posting song covers on YouTube before she left Jakarta for Seattle as a young adult. Life in the Emerald City was hectic enough for Reikko to think that, perhaps, being a musician was merely a teenage dream.

“I turned pessimistic,” she recalls. “I was, like, I’d better leave music and work in an office or something.”

Six years later, Reikko returned to her hometown, where one of her friends encouraged her to try her hand again at music. Slowly but surely, she found her resolve to pursue a creative career, marked by the release of her debut single, ‘Can’t Stay Away’ in November 2019. At the time, she took cues from the likes of Kehlani and Lana Del Rey, artists whom she loved listening to back in Seattle.

“I went through a lot of musical phases – a lot of phases and a lot of shit”

In retrospect, Reikko agrees that she has always been drawn in by a certain type of female artist: the ones who are “always angry, sad and in love. Like me!”

Reikko turned more heads in 2020 thanks to ‘Hush’, a collaboration with Dutch DJ duo Yellow Claw and Indonesian DJ trio Weird Genius and her first foray into EDM. Even though she was “thankful” for the “spotlight” the song gave her, she does not consider the song her big break: “I’m not an EDM artist, and that is not what I want to be known for.”

Reikko’s soul-searching journey soon began. Bored of R&B, she decided to experiment with different genres. ‘4:55 PM’, her 2021 team-up with JVSAN, finds Reikko dipping her toes into lo-fi and soft pop music. On ‘Paris, Texas IV’, released that same year, Reikko tests her emo potential opposite Indonesian emo rappers Naldooo and Suisei.

Then two major things happened. First, Reikko’s then boyfriend introduced her to hyperpop and the music of Charli XCX. Second, their relationship turned so destructive that Reikko felt compelled to pour her frustrations into music. She fell in love with the genre’s “unorthodox” nature, at the same time she fell out of love with her partner.

“There was a betrayal and a bunch of lies” is all she’ll say. “I just felt so hurt.”

‘No More’, the first song she wrote for what would eventually become her debut EP, blends early 2000s pop-punk-inspired melodies and percussion with maximalist, electronic beats and decidedly bitter lyrics: “Sick to my stomach, I’m not feeling OK / Don’t want you around, I just want you to stay away.”

Working with Sauce Machine as her key producer, Reikko developed tempestuous material that grew more personal. ‘Hate Us’ was deliberately written as a duet as Reikko wanted to present the perspective of both parties in her bad romance (past collaborator Suisei took on the man’s point of view). ‘I Wrote This Song For You’ incorporates “glitchy, video game-like sounds” that echo Charli XCX’s 2017 single ‘Boys’. The song may be cute, Reikko acknowledges, but it’s also her at her angriest. “Even though the song may sound mellow, the lyrics are so specific,” she teases.

Life continues to surprise Reikko, as ‘No More Feelings’ goes to show. She never thought that it would be an appalling ex-boyfriend who would set her on a new path as a hyperpop artist.

“Honestly, shout out to him!” she quips. “Without him, I wouldn’t be here doing hyperpop. I’m eternally grateful to him.”

Now that ‘No More Feelings’ is out, has Reikko finally found peace with her unlikely muse?

“We’re fine,” she deadpans. “I don’t hate him – anymore.”

Reikko’s ‘No More Feelings’ is out now.

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