KUALA LUMPUR, March 9 — Popular indie band, Sakura Band, is coming out to enliven Aidilfitri this year with a new song titled Raya di Kampung which is inspired by the personal experience of its vocalist, Melley Matius, or Mell, celebrating Hari Raya after converting to Islam.
Mell said the song features an indie concept with a touch of nostalgia that depicts the atmosphere of returning to her hometown ahead of Aidilfitri.
The melody and lyrics of the song were produced by her husband, drummer of the band 6ixth Sense, Mohammad Safwan Hasnan or Wan, with music inspired by his band’s popular song, Polaroid.
“Raya di Kampung is more about the feeling and experience of returning home. Apart from that, it also depicts the joy of being able to return home to celebrate Raya with family.
“This song also has its own meaning to me because when I was little, I didn’t have much experience celebrating Hari Raya. After converting to Islam, I had the opportunity to experience the joy of celebrating Aidilfitri and that feeling is what I tried to convey in this song,” she told Bernama after an Iftar with Mell Sakura here recently.
She said the music video for the song is expected to be released before the Hari Raya Aidilfitri celebration.
Meanwhile, the band, which is popular for its song Melepaskanmu, is currently preparing a new album which is expected to be launched in April.
Mell said the indie concept album will contain seven songs, five of which were entirely composed by the Sakura Band members themselves, while two songs were by external composers, namely Zimie and Adi Priyo Sambodo (Adi 6ixth Sense).
She said all the songs for the album were recorded immediately after the singer who is, a mother of one finished competing in the Gegar Vaganza (GV) reality show
“Actually, the day after the GV final, I went straight into the studio and recorded a new song because we wanted to catch up on time to complete this album. Alhamdulillah, everything is done and now it’s in the final phase,” she said.
The fifth-place winner of Gegar Vaganza Season 12 (GV12) plans to expand her solo career next year, but is focusing on her group this year.
“Of course I have plans for a solo project, but not this year. For now, my main focus is on Sakura Band because our new album will be launched soon,” she said. — Bernama
