JAKARTA - Singer who is familiarly called the singing lawyer, Kadri, is back with his latest release that is not ordinary. The vocalist of the progressive rock group Makara released a single titled "Sabana Malu Sabana Rindu".
Through his new work, Kadri tries to get out of the comfort zone of rock music that made his name, in order to present a retro city pop feel of the 1980s with lyrics in Minang.
This step is a continuation of Kadri's productivity in the solo track after previously successfully recycling "Karmila" in 2024 and "Bareh Solok" in 2025.
In this song created by Agung Triyana, Kadri tries to break the stigma that songs in local languages are always synonymous with conventional music or a sad tone. Instead, he offers a new subculture that is fresher, more modern, and specifically designed to get into the ears of Generation Z.
Kadri admitted that performing this song presents its own challenges, especially in managing his vocal technique which is usually vibrated strongly.
He had to restrain his musical ego to be in tune with the rhythm and atmosphere of the classical synthesis that dominates the song. The result is a composition that is clean, warm, but still has an honest emotional depth.
"As a singer, I feel this song has a strong emotional depth and is very challenging to sing. For that I try to hold back my ego and emotions from exploding when singing like I usually sing rock. This time it's enough with the soft, because the poetic Minang language gives a very honest and personal feeling in conveying feelings," said Kadri through a press release received by VOI, Sunday, April 5.
"Hopefully, Gen-Z can see that regional languages can also feel cool and relate to their current lives," he continued.
The theme raised in "Sabana Malu Sabana Rindu" is very universal, namely about the inner conflict of a person who harbors longing but is hindered by shame and distance.
In the hands of producer Jonathan Mono, the Minangkabau cultural elements are not eliminated, but rather raised to a wider level so that they can compete in the global pop music scene.
Agung Triyana as a songwriter even joked about his ambition for this work to be accepted abroad. According to him, the main key to breaking through the boundaries of locality is the light city pop approach. He also hopes that this song can be as popular as Minang cuisine which is spread everywhere.
"We want to prove that regional language songs can also feel universal. With a light and easy-to-enjoy city pop-style notation approach, 'Sabana Malu Sabana Rindu' is expected to break through local boundaries and be accepted by listeners in Japan as padang restaurants," said Agung.
The visualization of this song was also worked on seriously by director Dvh. Bale. The music video features Kadri's cinematic journey through the iconic landscape of West Sumatra, from Kelok Sembilan, Harau Valley, to Bukittinggi.
For music lovers who want to feel the nostalgia of the 1980s with a local taste wrapped in modernity, "Sabana Malu Sabana Rindu" can be enjoyed on various digital music platforms.
For information, the distribution of this single is in collaboration with IDE Timur, marking Kadri's serious step in maintaining the existence of regional languages through popular media that is relevant for today's young people.
The English, Chinese, Japanese, Arabic, and French versions are automatically generated by the AI. So there may still be inaccuracies in translating, please always see Indonesian as our main language. (system supported by DigitalSiber.id)
