Sandrayati announces a profound debut record on Decca Records entitled ‘Safe Ground’.
Inspired by the longing to define home, Sandrayati weaves many worlds into this body of work. Pre-order the album here.
Moving from place to place whilst growing up, to follow her parents’ calling in fighting for the rights of indigenous people, meant that human connection became home. Developing an intimate relationship with land also plays a role in defining her home. Sandrayati draws her inspiration for this from a particular indigenous community, the Mollo people from East Indonesia. The enchanting third single ‘Suara Dunia’, out today on Decca Records, represents the admiration she has for them.
Speaking of the evocative narrative surrounding the Mollo community as inspiration for ‘Suara Dunia’, Sandrayati says,
“They have a mantra, “Batu adalah tulang. Air adalah darah. Hutan adalah urat nadi. Dan tanah adalah daging.” It means, “The earth is our flesh, the rock is our bone, the water is our blood, the forests are our hair and skin,”, they remind me that we are not separate from the earth. I wrote this song for the beauty of the Mollo people and their land, for Mama Aleta and all the women who protested by weaving on their looms in front of the mining machinery to protect their ancestral mountains. To celebrate the end of their long struggle of fighting for the lifeline of their home. After I spent time with their youth and sacred stones on their land, the song came effortlessly.”
Born to a Filipino mother and American father, and raised on the islands of Java and Bali, Sandrayati grew up embracing musical culture. Her parents, both of whom work with protecting the land rights of indigenous peoples, share a love of folk music and protest songs. Drawing on the challenges her parents faced in their work, Sandrayati began writing her first songs when the family relocated from Indonesia to the Philippines. She struggled with the sudden upheaval and needed to express coinciding themes of identity and courage. Last year, the singer and guitarist elaborated on this when she collaborated with Damien Rice and Icelandic artist Jófríður Ákadóttir, releasing a powerful tribute – ‘Song for Berta’ – to slain Honduran environmental activist and indigenous leader Berta Cáceres. She also represented Asia when she performed at the latest United Nations Climate Change Conference (better known as Cop26).
As an individual who’s always felt she “belongs to many places”, 2020’s lockdowns left Sandrayati feeling so far from a home that she could not return to. In this time, Sandrayati formed the belief that life’s safe places sometimes need to be deliberately created and nurtured – instead of expected. Produced by GRAMMY-nominated composer Ólafur Arnalds, this record became the ultimate safe space for Sandrayati, irrelevant of her pin on the map. Describing the writing and recording experience as a personal “landing”, Sandrayati discovered a mature voice in this enthralling new landscape. Eventually reaching out to find many awaiting hands of a new community, she hopes to offer a similar comfort for those lost souls reinventing their idea of home.
The news comes as Sandrayati announces her first headline show in the UK at the stunning St Pancras Old Church in March next year. More details here.
Album Tracklist:
- Easy Quiet
- Petals To The Fear
- New Dawn
- Suara Dunia
- Found
- Vast
- Smoke
- Segala Baru
- Bending Birch
- Holding Will Do