7.2/10
Having been largely detached from the local independent scene since I started getting into music, I’m always pleasantly surprised when an Indonesian act comes through with a release that is more enjoyable than some of the international releases I’m also listening to at the time. It doesn’t happen very often, though, or often enough to make me interested in what else the scene has to offer. The last time it (almost) happened was with Seems Like Yesterday’s The Length Between whose blend of emo, post-hardcore, and math rock worked perfectly to create a thoroughly engaging listen, but the emotional heights it could’ve reached were flattened by grammatically inconsistent lyrics and questionable production choices that left me gravitated toward a few select tracks. Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing if you’re not looking for a complete experience, but I’m afraid such compromises just won’t fly in the long run and coupled with the perceived lack of quality releases that I mentioned earlier, I think I’ll stick with pitchfork for the immediate future.
…and maybe with A City Sorrow Built as well. A screamo three-piece based in Ubud, Bali, who have reserved a spot in my musical subconscious since mid-2012 when I found myself captivated by their first EP, the unpretentiously-titled Songs that, despite its length and amateurish approach, managed to tug at my heartstrings in a way few other screamo groups can and it pretty much stayed that way up until their 2013 EP, Motions which expanded upon A City Sorrow Built’s already-established sound with post rock-inspired compositions and spoken-word pieces that really made the four-track EP seem grander than it should’ve been. Needless to say, I was instantly hooked and craving for more. But 2014 was a quiet year for A City Sorrow Built, one that was spent writing (and recording?) their debut LP, Ai.
To be honest, I didn’t have any expectations about Ai because what little impression Motions left was buried underneath all the crazy shit that was happening in my life throughout that year, including but not limited to music (I mean, it’s only natural in a year of reunions and whatever Godly miracle this is). I’m not sure if I had even known it was coming out this year before I was linked to Sailboat Records’ bandcamp page two days ago. But alas, I have listened to Ai several times now and I got thoughts that need sharing.
“Dua Puluh” starts the album off in an eerily contemplative and cinematic fashion with gently-picked guitar melodies that wouldn’t feel out of place on a Caspian track, at least not until Emil Raji’s anguished screams disrupt the stillness and add another dimension to the cleanly-sung vocals. You would think that this side of A City Sorrow Built requires the GY!BE treatment to properly work, but “Dua Puluh”‘s relatively short duration and straightforwardness enable the mood to be suspended long enough for the beautiful chaos that is “Hati/Salju” to arrive unexpectedly and overwhelm you with its dissonant first-third which transitions seamlessly to an extended math rock jam, culminating in an intensely-played, almost frenzied ending that gives you a glimpse of how the group have matured, making “Hati/Salju” seem like the real opener to the album. Ironically, it also marks the point where my problems with Ai begin to surface. “Suaramu” isn’t a bad track in itself, I’m actually digging the general atmosphere which reminds me of Young Team-era Mogwai, but that doesn’t change the fact that it totally breaks the momentum of “Hati/Salju” and ends up sounding like an experiment that wasn’t fully realized. It doesn’t fit in the larger scheme of the album either because the moment “Datang/Pergi” comes on, your attention is immediately thrown off again. So instead of a cohesive song-to-interlude-to-song structure, you get the sense that A City Sorrow Built might not have thought things through enough. A suspicion that is justified by the rest of the album.
I skipped “Datang/Pergi”, “Hitam/Putih” and “Pelangimu” on my second listen because they still sound as bland and identical to each other as when I first listened to them. Not to mention the many instances where the instruments seem to be played on completely different tempos and how some parts just feel so purposefully out of place that I can’t be bothered to give them another go. They’re all lyrically decent, but in order for the lyrics to be emotionally resonant the music must at least be on the same level, which is exactly what “Duka/Cita” demonstrates in its entirety as A City Sorrow Built take you on a heartbreaking journey through despair, regrets that are ever-present, and the catharsis it all boils down to. Not only is it undoubtedly the best track on the whole album, it also restores my belief that, at their peak, A City Sorrow Built are capable of subverting my expectations and turning them into a lesser version of what they’ve created.
“Kasih/Sayang” features acoustic guitars and Emil’s most accessible vocal performance yet, bringing the track closer to the realm of ballads than anything else. It strangely works well as a closer though, which I’m at a loss to find the reason why. Maybe because it’s simply really good, maybe because the line “Kasih sayangku / terjebak remisi menunggumu / cinta ‘kah kian kembali?” connects with me somewhere deep down, or maybe because both it and “Duka/Cita” have prevented Ai from becoming a nagging disappointment.
ASASI 