By Zim Ahmadi
Yon.dershore’s music is music for (and of) intimate understatement, their reticent lullabies obfuscating heavy ruminations about depression and letting go. It’s a far cry from the band members’ other projects—Motherland, Shh… Diam!, and Memento Mori—all of which trade in crowd-ready anthems driven by haphazard, fuck-all attitudes.
The band’s latest release, EP Dua Lagu, combines these sombre themes with saccharine guitar melodies reminiscent of lounge music but with some sweet, slacker indifference in the mix. Think of Pavement’s “Spit on a Stranger'” or The Breeders’ “Off You”, and you’ll get the picture. This is lo-fi that leans on the tiny sentimentalities, the type that lives in the space between stares-at-the-ceiling and sleep.
On “Into the Dark”, vocalist Yon’s demure vocals tease at the possibility of welcoming the abyss. “The universe is always a fascinating, dark, and mind-blowing subject for me”, Yon says. “It’s an endless journey of the mind just to think that our existence is by chance and we’ll never exist again. I’m in that abyss from time to time.”
“Sebelum Tidur” operates on the same introspective and nocturnal wavelength, albeit with a lighter, cosier approach, the introductory sounds of rain setting the stage for a dialogue between mind and body, battling for sleep.
EP Dua Lagu’s sombre overtones follow you to your slumber, a perfect nightcap for those inexplicably long days we all go through.
- Country: Malaysia
- Label: Self-released
- Year: 2022
