Mondo Gascaro Releases his Beautiful Full-length Album, “RAJAKELANA”
“Berbisik bisik…… Raja Kelana….” it is a piece of lyrics in the chorus of Indonesia’s national song “Nyiur Melambai”. The term “RAJAKELANA” then inspired male singer and songwriter, Mondo Gascaro to name the title of his full length album. Previously, Mondo has released a single in 2014 called “Saturday Light”, and a b-side single in early 2015 called “Komorebi”. Both received great response from fans and critics, further boosting the anticipation for his album. “RAJAKELANA” took more than a year in the making and with much effort put to this album, on November 25th, the album is officially released digitally via his record label, Ivy League Music. Many musicians took part throughout the process of creating RAJAKELANA including golden voiced singer, Bonita Adi, Alexandria Deni the ex-vocalist of Monophones, Aprilia Apsari from White Shoes & The Couples Company, and also tenor saxophone solo from Yogyakarta’s jazz musician, Jay Afrisando. The staple troop that always present on Mondo’s side which consists of Dimas A. Pradipta (drums), Petrus Bayu Prabowo (guitar, bass), Lafa Pratomo (guitar) and Belanegara Abimanyu (percussion), enhances the musicality of this album as well.
The album is filled with 10 tracks which reveal Mondo’s vast music exploration and excellent songwriting capability. Four songs in Indonesian, another four songs in English and two instrumental tracks manage to tingle our hearing sense and bring us into the beautiful realm of Mondo Gascaro. We are not wise with words and could not assemble a poetic verse to describe the experience we had, while listening to this album. Imagine you’re sitting somewhere beautiful, with a glass of cocktail that you sip slowly, while reminiscing on the wonderful life you have. That is the analogy we would like to use for “RAJAKELANA”. Mondo showcases his take on various music influences from erotica, Brazilian tropical tune, Japanese pop, soft rock, jazz, Indonesiana and harmonization division a la Brian Wilson through the songs. You could also notice the use of Indonesia’s traditional instruments like kolintang and angklung towel, as well as Okinawa’s stringed instrument called Sanshin in couple of songs.
“Naked” for example, opens the album with its sensual and erotica vibe which is wrapped in a graceful harmony. “Rainy Days On The Sidewalk” which is one of our favorite from the album, depicts a romantic story that happens in Bandung. The release of this album is also in conjunction with the launch of Mondo’s new single after “A Deacon’s Summer” back in May. Now he picks “Lamun Ombak”, a song in which he collaborates with Aprilia Apsari or more often addressed as Nona Sari Sartje from WSATCC as the second single. “We’ve known about each other and we’ve been friends for pretty long time since Sarah Records. So, (it is) without a doubt, when I was asked to fill in the vocal in this album. Mondo’s creation always strikes through the heart,” utters Sari praising her collaborator’s work on a teaser video. “Lamun Ombak” closes out the ride of RAJAKELANA with a sweet impression. The album is available on digital outlets such as iTunes, Spotify, JOOX and many more. Hopefully, the physical releases will follow suit.
“RAJAKELANA” Tracklist
- Naked
- Dan Bila…
- Rainy Days on the Sidewalk
- A Deacon’s Summer
- Sanubari
- Sturm und Drang (fur Ludwig Van) – Instrumental
- Into the Clouds, Out of the Ocean – Instrumental
- Oblivion, Oblivion!
- Butiran Angin
- Lamun Ombak
