From the rock bands with hard-hitting bass lines in the 90s to the more soulful minimalist ballads of the 2010s, some might say it’s difficult to pinpoint exactly the defining style of the Indonesian musical landscape, as it shifts from one decade to the other.

As digital streaming rose into prominence in the 2010s, long gone are the days of the radio. This has directly impacted the experience of listening to music; what was once a collective experience has significantly become a more passive (even singular) experience, a direct reflection to the rise of individualism and fragmentation in society.

Amidst a time full of censorship and limited expression under the New Order (or Orde Baru) era, the staples of the 1990s were bands with something to say. Even casual music listeners preferred hard-hitting songs with rebellious elements; for example, Slank gained popularity with songs like “Memang” and “Tong Kosong” that contained thought-provoking social commentary. At its core, the rock band resonated with a generation of people who were experiencing enormous political shifts. With an endearing underdog story of forming the group in a small alley in Jakarta, they represented the voice of the people who are sick of uncertainty and limitations. Or if that’s a bit too much to handle, pop-rock bands also grew in popularity with similar grassroots stories such as Dewa 19, Sheila on 7, and Kerispatih.

The 2000s then arrived, a time of dynamic political and cultural shifts as the country entered its Reformation period; it also became a more lighthearted time in music. This was also when Indonesia began to experience a boom in pop music, which welcomed more women like Ratu, Agnes Monica, and Melly Goeslaw to take the stage as they soared to stardom. Songs like the flirty and playful “Teman Tapi Mesra” as well as “Tak Ada Logika” were highly embraced by the public, through their catchy pop melodies and relatable lyrics about women asserting their autonomy, as well as powerful female iconography in their music videos. Even popular bands like Project Pop and Changcuters were known for being funny and for making people laugh, with topical references in their lyrics and comedic approach to music-making, it was truly the time for the feel-good factor in music.

Sadly, parts of that feel-good factor then slowly eroded with time as the musical landscape in Indonesia became less joyful. The ghosts of the New Order past, which never truly went away, continued to haunt Indonesia through socioeconomic and political uncertainty which ultimately paved the way for moral conservatism as a convention in Indonesian life.

Minimalism was the word on the street in the 2010s. Where people were so occupied with their own lives, it made for a musical landscape where all there was were easy-listening and casual cozy moods as the general “vibes” of the time. The most popular artists you see reigned the radio through soulful ballads, as the likes of Tulus, Raisa, and Payung Teduh reached extraordinary popularity as streaming slowly entered the industry in the middle of the decade. “Tetap Dalam Jiwa” by Isyana Sarasvati is a great example of this. The pop ballad is a staple to an unfortunately overused template of galau or even cengeng songs in present-day Indonesia: a heartbroken girl showcased through sullen clinging-to-nostalgia lyrics and soulful vocal melodies laid over powerful instrumentals.

The streaming era began with a roaring start in the 2020s, as Indonesia became ever more fragmented as a society. Having less communal experiences with music (aside from concerts and live performances), it also gave rise to singular voices that otherwise wouldn’t have been heard through social media, greatly mobilizing these voices to the forefront. 

How else would the likes of “Garam dan Madu” by underdogs Tenxi, Naykilla, and Jemsii in all of its 2000s-adjacent flirtatious and playful glory, exist alongside the more mainstream yet sultry stylings of Bernadya in “Untungnya, Dunia Masih Berputar,” and have an equal measure of fame in the public eye?

This modern-day tapestry of stories, tells us that there is always more than what’s on the surface. Even in the eye of despair, we can always resort to music to collect and pick ourselves back up.

Even in the darkest of times, people have always managed to lift each other’s spirits, and should we ever face such depressing times ahead of us, so will we again.