ADIKARA - Klise

Pop kreatif was born in Indonesia in the Eighties from the crossing of soul, funk, prog, jazz and disco, managing to give a local face to global influences. Throughout the Nineties its presence gradually faded, staying alive only among collectors and enthusiasts, while in the 2000s it was revived by groups like Maliq & D’Essentials, Ran and Soulvibe, initially hailed as heirs to the genre but soon drifting toward a more generically urban identity.

From the 2020s onward, though, the term has come back into prominence thanks to a new generation: Diskoria, who managed to turn their tribute to Chrisye into a viral phenomenon with “C.H.R.I.S.Y.E.” (over 118 million streams on Spotify and 92 million views on YouTube); Laleilmanino, born out of the Maliq nucleus; and solo artists like Mondo Gascaro, Danilla and Vira Talisa. It's in this climate that Adikara fits in too, who with “Klise” doesn't just play with nostalgia but reinterprets the heritage of pop kreatif with a personal, contemporary sensibility.

Born in 2000, Adikara first made a name for himself with his warm, retro-tinged vocal tone, initially through English-language tracks rooted in jazz-soul. After a debut EP released in 2020, in 2024 he chose to go independent, founding the label Pagoda House. "Klise", released on May 30, 2025 and preceded by the singles "Katakan Saja", "Primadona", "Nirwana" and "Rindu", marks the start of a new chapter: lyrics written and performed by him, production shared with Taufan Wirzon and mixing by Rayendra Sunito, with recordings made using analogue equipment to recreate an authentically vintage atmosphere.

For the first time, Adikara sings most of the material in Indonesian, recounting his first love story and turning it into a universal tale. The album's structure follows a narrative arc running through the start of a relationship, its excitement, conflicts, separation and, finally, rebirth. The closing track, "Love Again", ideally echoes the opening of "Kembali" — a word that in Indonesian means "return" or "again" — underlining how every ending holds the possibility of a new beginning. The title itself, "Klise" ("Cliché"), carries a statement of intent: romantic commonplaces are not empty formulas, but shared experiences that give shape to feelings.

The album opens with "Kembali", which Adikara himself described as "the song that contains everything I want to say to someone." The chorus neatly captures the tension of the lyrics: "Do you really miss me, or am I just a bother?". The soul-pop arrangement revolves around the vintage Rhodes piano of Ilman Ibrahim (Maliq & D'Essentials, Laleilmanino), which lends the track a melancholy yet elegant tone, in keeping with the Eighties aesthetic evoked throughout the record. "Seketika" moves through brighter, more measured atmospheres, leading into "Nirwana", one of the lead singles. Here the soul-jazz framework takes on sensual, stretched-out shades: hazy keyboards and a slowed-down groove support Adikara's vocals, which in the chorus evoke an idealized, overwhelming love ("Take me to paradise, the desire keeps burning"). The atmosphere hovers between dream and earthly passion, setting the stage for "Rindu", the record's true turning point. A duet with Andien, one of the most refined voices in Indonesian jazz-pop, the track boasts a melodic bassline, a disco rhythm and enveloping keyboards.

Placed at the midpoint of the tracklist, "Makna" ("Meaning") is the album's most introspective moment: a restrained ballad built on a bare-bones arrangement and understated vocals that momentarily suspend the narrative flow, offering a meditative pause at the heart of the record. It's followed by "Katakan Saja" ("Just Say It"), which with over 36 million streams on Spotify and 11 million views on YouTube is the album's biggest hit. Written during a stay in New York in 2022 and released as a single in February 2024, it weaves together r&b and sophisticated pop with a lounge-like sheen that heightens its confessional feel. Here the songwriting opens up to a more contemporary sensibility, where the language of pop kreatif meets a lounge and contemporary neo-soul sensibility. With its classic verse-chorus structure, the track becomes the emotional manifesto of "Klise": direct, elegant, unfiltered.

"Sentimen" is one of the album's most intimate moments and serves as a prelude to "Primadona", the viral single that established Adikara as a new voice in Indonesian pop. The record's signature track, "Primadona" unfolds as a vivid portrait of pop kreatif dedicated to a girl met by chance during Jakarta's nights. Musically it rests on a mildly danceable groove that recalls the urban disco aesthetic of the mid-Eighties: a steady beat, a velvety atmosphere and a memorable closing bass solo, refined and perfectly woven into the arrangement. Its success was amplified by its release coinciding with Jakarta's anniversary: many users chose the track as the soundtrack for celebratory videos about the city, boosting its media reach. Its retro character is thus filtered through a digital context that projects it into the present. The song went viral especially on TikTok, from where it quickly spread to other platforms, surpassing 13 million streams on Spotify and cementing itself as the album's sonic manifesto.

"Selesai" and "Love Again" lead to the conclusion: the former acts as a fleeting bridge to the latter, which invites a fresh start, picking back up — as already mentioned — on the themes of "Kembali".

The tracks flow into one another almost without interruption, giving the album the feel of a single continuous stream. A choice that at times can create a sense of uniformity, though not enough to undermine the record's overall cohesion — if anything, it benefits from this narrative unity. Adikara establishes himself as one of the most promising faces of the new scene, and "Klise", capable of blending retro elegance with expressive sincerity, stands as one of the most convincing debuts in recent years in Indonesian pop.

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06/09/2025