Music Premiere: 'What a Waste'/ Matahara
Matahara bubble wraps her post-break up world in a tranquillising, electropop release “What a Waste”.
Dream-pop ‘lordess’ Matahara debuts a retrospective love song that oscillates between soporific, swirling vocals and post-disco synth-pop in “What a Waste”. Tomorrow, the Naarm/Melbourne via Jakarta musician and singer-songwriter Marissa Yudinar, who typically performs under the moniker of Matahara, welcomes her first sparkly single into the world.
Matahara, which is derived from the Indonesian translation of “the sun”, light plays and reflects on epiphanies that have surfaced after an intense romantic experience in Yudinar’s lead single. Initially written and recorded four years ago, when she was just sixteen, Yudinar speaks on the long-standing interplay between break-ups and the cathartic vessel of electronic pop music,
“I often write sad lyrics because they are often personal and factual, but I tend to belittle my own feelings by presenting it in a light or playful ….it just keeps happening, when I try to find new melodies… the optimistic and upbeat sound of dance-pop helps me build a healthier relationship with unpleasant memories....”
Photo Credit: Anindya Apsara. Photo Edit: Alexa Satryo
Yudinar’s vocal capabilities swelter with radiant, reflexive kineticism with her ‘I’m over you’ and ‘Just dance it out!’ after-love attitude. It’s a glitzy candy-wrapped release laden with snarky guitar reverbs that are as awakening as the syncopated electro-funked beats and cuts that loop in and out of some whimsically sunny synth-work. On repeat listen, “What a Waste” echoes some influence from the clubbable inclinations of bands like The Cardigans and Mild High Club with its pappy, slightly stripped back free-funky pop pacing. Yet at the same time, the song braces a difficult task of playing with vulnerability and what was once love, lyrically, as Yudinar attempts to move onwards and upwards from a deep, heartfelt experience through delicately worn vocals that are so powerfully soft yet fun-sized. Yudinar’s bliss-induced overtone creates a lightness that protects and honours the earnest, richly personal narrative of the entire track.
“… I tend to belittle my own feelings by presenting it in a light or playful ….it just keeps happening…”
Worked and re-worked since 2016, “What a Waste” features luscious production chops from Yudinar’s dear friend Michael Vince Moin of the indie-acoustic outfit Tram Cops and is mixed by Allan McConnell of Close Counters. Jakarta-based illustrator Phantasien, of Mitski and Khruangbin fame, designed the cover art which borrows from elements of cartooned cottage-core meets bubbly childlike daydreams.
~Verve Zine is thrilled to officially premier “What a Waste” by Matahara~ Get a first listen to the single below~
“What a Waste” officially releases on Wednesday 16th September, independently. Stay updated with Matahara here.
Words by Lakshmi Krishnan.
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