Ngélar

Formed in 2018 in the city of Jatiwangi, West Java, LAIR (pronounced ‘lah-eer’ – taken from the Indonesian word meaning ‘birth’) are an eclectic mix of psychedelic rock, soul and funk. On Ngélar, their second album, the group take inspiration from their hometown – once celebrated as a major producer of clay and terracotta – as well as a local artform called Panturan Tarling, a form of grassroots performance art popular in their region of Java. The lyrics deal with the minutiae of everyday life: rituals of harvest, the people’s relationship with the land, as well as lamenting the encroaching influence of industrialisation. As such, the album is permeated with a sense of celebration and melancholy, like a party taking place in a ruin. Produced by Go Kurosawa of Kikagaku Moyo, and featuring three collaborations with singer/songwriter Monica Hapsari, the soundscape is suitably psych, replete with fuzzy, arabesque guitar lines, layered percussion and infectious chant vocals. Occasional ambient sounds and field recordings find their way into the mix – the drone of electrical generators and humming guitar amps evoking the buzz of humid air and the stench of engine oil. While LAIR will certainly appeal to fans of other practitioners of global psych, such as Goat and Altın Gün, theirs is a sound that is distinctly Indonesian, imbued with a sense of place unique to them.