Aussie Indie Pop Unit, Darling James Collaborate with Japs Shadiq of Indische Party for “Indonesian Cigarette” Music Video
It is not everyday that Australian musicians collaborate with Indonesian artist, so it came as a surprise when we found out about Darling James‘ latest single called “Indonesian Cigarette”. Hailing from Melbourne, Australia the indie pop band led by its sole frontman, James O’Brien uploaded the music video for the single onto his Youtube account on 6 January 2016. The musician took the title of this song to a literal level when he decided to shoot the music video in Indonesia, more specifically taking a closer look at Jakarta’s bustling streets. According to his statement on Rolling Stone Australia, the music video is a “good idea that seems too crazy to work”.
The music video is the result of his collaboration with Japs Shadiq, the frontman of 60’s revival rock band from Indonesia, Indische Party. Japs directed the video that took collages of Jakarta’s daily street activity, from its commuter line, street vendors, and market among many others. It shows contrasting image of the metropolitan city that hosts slums as well as elite establishments. There is also scenes showing a woman roaming around in a forest which describes the contemplation of the lyrics from “Indonesian Cigarettes”. The collaboration between the two happened after O’Brien was looking for video references from Indonesia, and Indische Party’s videos in particular caught his attention. “After a few conversations through Facebook and email, I found out that the director of those videos are the vocalist, Japs Shadiq,” recalls O’Brien about their encounter. They combined their vision and concept that they thought would fit with the music video and shot it on September 2015.
Moreover, “Indonesian Cigarrette” is a part of Darling James’ forthcoming EP called “Theory Of Mind” that will be dropped on 9 February 2017 with a live showcase in Melbourne. Beforehand, he has released “Ultimatum Talk” and “Gods Gravity” from the same album. O’Brien also praises Japs Shadiq for his work and suggests that more Australian artists work with their neighboring country. You can watch the music video of “Indonesian Cigarette” below.
