Sal Priadi’s MARKERS AND SUCH PENS FLASHDISKS: Same love different outfits
A sceptical view emerged after knowing that Sal will share his latest work after a two-years album roll out bringing down the excitement of the record.
It is difficult to frame and find a moment to talk about Sal Priadi’s second installation of his musical works MARKERS AND SUCH PENS FLASHDISKS, dropping on 30th April 2024, when the beef between Kendrick Lamar and Drake was heating up, or 19th April when Taylor Swift’s THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT: THE ANTHOLOGY dropped her lengthy dull record, or the several moronic, brain-dead, and unintelligent cases about Indonesian draft laws. Still and all, not all people are concerned about those macro events because most Indonesians have developed a keenness on the local musical scene. That’s why MARKERS AND SUCH PENS FLASHDISKS echoes loud-and-well. From the harrowing, theatrical, atmospheric, and poignant of Berhati, Sal Priadi goes 180 degrees to polish his second record MARKERS AND SUCH PENS FLASHDISKS with a brazen pop direction.
A sceptical view emerged after knowing that Sal will share his latest work after a two-years album roll out bringing down the excitement of the record. However, Petra Sihombing’s production in this track and “Mesra-mesranya kecil-kecilan dulu” varnishes the overall musical aspect with his typical guitar progression. “Kita usahakan rumah itu” is on the list of his 2022 singles, and if you sing it repetitiously with the sense of being related to the narrative, well, congratulations!! because you might have a relatively stable funds. Anyways, the plot is pretty much an attempt of Sal Priadi to mark off the dos and don’ts of his domestic business as captured in the line (“Urusan perabotan dan wangi-wangian / Kuserahkan pada seleramu yang lebih maju”) referred to the female partner, and Sal desires to designate the spaces of the house, resulting a higher autonomy in his hand. Sal elucidates ‘home’ in a chalk-and-cheese way. The lyric video — visualised by Macan Unggulan — will help you to get a sense of the song depicting a multi-storey house with lucrative plants in well-lit rooms. Is it really ‘unsophisticated’ when Sal goes by (“dari depan akan tampak sederhana”)? Clearly, it’s ‘simple’ but not for everyone considering how Indonesian workers — securing IDR 2,492,997 per month in Yogyakarta — are desperately prone to be levied 3% of monthly wage — thanks to the ludicrous Indonesian ministries with their TAPERA program.
Still, about Yogyakarta and its low-income wage, I won’t let you walk away from what’s been embedded by our society about Yogyakarta. “Hi, selamat pagiii” just places Sal into the list of artists romanticising the city as blatantly viewed in (“Apa kau siap untuk jalani hari / Di Jogja ini? / Kita ‘kan jalan-jalan dan jatuh cinta / Sekali lagi pada kota ini”). The bias of class is deep-seated and deep-rooted in the song because flat broke workers like motor rickshaws near Malioboro, porters in traditional markets, and tiresome-looked conventional ride-hailing in Yogyakarta’s train stations are not as fairy-tale as the ‘slow-living’ taken for granted to the city. Those workers, however, are what Giorgio Agamben might put in what he calls as homo sacer — exception of people beyond both divine and human law. The song is warm with the accordion-like instrument but not the pseudo-love labelled to the city.
Avoiding going into details with the discourse, I’d highlight some unputdownable elements of the record. The exuberant and euphoric of “Dari planet lain” might be the top output of Gusti Irwan Wibowo in his producer chair by embellishing the shortest-but-manifold songwriting. A slow jazz piano at the beginning before the chorus swiped by the samba jazz evoking a danceable aura fostered by the electrifying synth, closed-hat, and celebrated backing vocal. The second of their best produced is “Yasudah” showcasing bright songwriting being altered into a soul-stirring tone reflecting a hope delivered in gloomy, tiresome, and despairing spoken words. Two works of Lafa Pratomo in a slow-burning jazz “Ada titik dua di ujung doa” culminated with a well-built-up gospel and the heavily samba-inspired “Zuzuzaza” make the album’s mark.
However, not all glistening in the track remains sustained since the whole record seems like missing what defines Sal Priadi as himself in his debut. Witty, rhyming, and sense-evoking lyricism are missing throughout the numbers, conforming to the rule of pop songs having a lack of variation for the sake of grabbing mass audiences. Moreover, Gusti Irwan Wibowo, who is the producer of most of the songs in the record, does not really make an efficacious connection with Sal Priadi as reflected in “Episode” bringing the vulnerability of Sal in contemplating his adult life (“Karena banyak pertanyaan menеmukan jawaban / Bukan di keramaian”) over a ruminative musical odyssey with jagged whispery snare and acoustic guitar fostering the feeling. Even though “Foto kita blur” roots in a gospely groovy and jazzy nuance, a four-minute run time and redundant lines obliterate the overall impression.
Despite the presence of Gusti, Sal fails to put an end to the lacklustre tracks until “Semua lagu cinta” with its wishy-washy vocal delivery upon a shapeless atmosphere albeit the alluring chord progression. Sal Priadi also attempts to lean on a nostalgic Indonesian 70s pop in “Biar jadi urusanku” with his spiritless vocal, but his bitterness is eloquent by the sparse reverbed strum. “Gala bunga matahari” is as sick as a dog to bridge to the last track by its shallow aspects, both sonically and narratively in spite of being decorated with some strings. However, Ahmad Dhani’s influence in the final track “I’d like to watch you sleeping” might be manifested in the form of post-rock sax, but a five-minute offering doesn’t land the musical odyssey in an impressive conclusion although a line of Ahmad Dhani’s songwriting for Reza Artamevia’s 1997 song “Satu Yang Tak Bisa Lepas” is introduced.
It is obvious to acknowledge how Sal Priadi’s second full-length album is not as solid, flavourful, or worth repeating as what he came up with in Berhati because skippable tracks are more commonly amplified by the less cohesion between songs even though some of his jazz-rooted songs are still catchy in letting his listeners to grab something memorable over an hour long of record.
6.2/10
By Qais Indi Purnama
Click here to stream MARKERS AND SUCH PENS FLASHDISKS by Sal Priadi
