foto: @andigondi
Brilio.net - Singer and songwriter Teza Sumendra has finally released a mini album (Extended Play/EP) entitled " Midnight Notion ". This mini album, which contains six songs, was officially launched, Friday, May 17 2024, at 00.00 WIB. It took quite a long time to work on this mini album, around nine years or exactly after the first album entitled Teza Sumendra which was released in 2015.
Teza revealed that the title Midnight Notion was chosen because the process of making this mini album was carried out through a nocturnal process. The cultivation is always done at midnight before dawn.
So, it always starts with playing at a friend's house. Late at night. Incidentally, my producer is an office boy. After office hours, continue the jamming session into one song. The process always takes place from 12 midnight onwards until dawn. So it's always finished at midnight. "That's why it's called Midnight Notion ," explained Teza at a press conference in Lebak Bulus, South Jakarta, Thursday (16/5/2024).
So, why did the work take so long? Teza admitted that the problem was that he always put off work.
So the problem lies with me. Maybe the people involved in this mini album are annoyed with me. "Luckily, I'm surrounded by people who are willing to be patient with me," continued the guy who started his musical career from a talent search competition in 2006.
After going through a fairly long process with various dynamics, the mini album Midnight Notion was finally successfully released by placing the song Got Supplies as the main single because it was considered the most different from the previous album. This song is more danceable and happy than the songs on the previous album which were more intimate.
Confide in yourself
Midnight Notion , which was almost entirely produced by loyal collaborator and producer Randy MP, apart from the song "Lights Off" which was produced by Kenny Gabriel, is actually Teza's mood and story. You could say this mini album is based on Teza's true story .
This is different from the previous album which refers more to the stories of people or friends, but in this mini album the trigger is yourself, until finally this mini album was created. "I try to be honest. So this is my own story. "Honestly, what do I feel," said Teza.
Midnight Notion could be said to be more of a collection of Teza's musical prowess and exploration. He shows another side of him that has more advanced preferences in music production, compared to his previous works.
Take for example the first song from this EP, The Intro(vert) , which was released in 2022. The sound selection on this song is quite unique with slightly off-beat drums. Just when the listener thinks the song is about to end, the beat returns subtly with simple and repetitive lyrics, followed by additional layers of instruments, as if presenting the song's conclusion.
As the only song written in Indonesian on this EP, Teza explores simple but witty wordplay. "There are no friends to sleep with, I can't see my close friends/My balance is out of style/I don't care about my existence/absence without prestige "
The lyrics of this song match the scheme and theme that you want to convey, living as an introvert with peer pressure in the modern era. As a result, this song was then nominated for Best R&B Solo Artist and Best Music Video at the 2023 AMI Awards.
The next three songs are similar to songs Teza generally writes which revolve around love, sexual passion, and everything in between. Although lyrically this was nothing new for Teza, he later explored how to convey the desired atmosphere, experimenting with sound design and production. The song Lights Off offers a richer ambience for a song inspired by R&B songs in general with a surprise appearance from Yarra Rai.
Meanwhile, the song I Do Know is one of the songs where Teza and Randy experiment with vocal chops and long outros, similar to Got Supplies which was released a week earlier. Meanwhile, Daytime Alibi is a song where Teza explores his vocal layers more, especially as the song moves from trap/hip-hop inspired drums to something more industrial.
Midnight Notion closes with the song On It , the main song from this EP which is very different from the other songs. This song is more like Jazzy-house with dozens of layers with different elements that subtly keep appearing almost every two minutes.
Teza treats his vocals like any other instrument in this song. He is present to strengthen the atmosphere that he wants to convey. In essence, Midnight Notion is a collection of midnight vibes.
(brl/red)
