Abang has always been a fan of Aina Abdul, or also known to be part of the Ainations, ever since abang heard her very first song titled “Ini Yang Kau Mahu” in 2016, which literal translation means “This is What you Want”. Prior to that Aina Abdul has already appeared on Malaysia’s national television, in competitions such as Pertandingan Irama 1Malaysia and Mentor Legend, to name a few, but abang, unfortunately, has not paid much attention to such programs back then. When Abang first heard the song “Ini Yang Kau Mahu”, the sincerity to her voice caught abang;’s attention. At that point of time, abang did not know that she was a singer song-writer. To make matter even more unclear or fuzzy, Ernie Zakri released a similar titled song, “Ini Yang KU Mahu”. So, at times, abang confused the two singers. When Aina released her second song, “Reminiscing”, abang was just amazed at her sounds. She truly sounded awesome in both Malay and English songs, which was not an easy feat for many Malaysian singers. This is when abang also decided to do a bit more reading up on her and this is also the time when abang found out that she is a singer and songwriter, and it totally explained why she has managed to find that sweet spot for her sound, that makes her very distinctive from the rest of the singers in her era. This is followed with the haunting lyrics and piano into of Shadow. The haunting piano into then became Aina’s trademark when she followed up with her smash single, Sumpah.
Now, Sumpah is a song that will always hold a place in abang’s heart. The poetic lyrics that are so well-put together, that goes beyond just the relationship between spouses or child-parent. And who can forget the defining lyrics “Pedih yang kau rasa dulu, kini dekatku”, which means, the pain that you felt are now close to me.
This is then followed by Semalam. At the into, again we hear the trademark piano intro that has now become part of Aina’s identity in all her music. The lyrics then uses beautiful symbolism of a leaf and a tree to narrate the trauma of being in an abusive relationship. Abang has personally seen how damaging an abusive relationship can be, and how difficult it is to walk away from the relationship. It is like you know the relationship is bad and toxic for you and yet you just cannot bring yourself to leave. And Aina captured all these in her lyrics, through the poetic symbolism. The use of calar unggu to mark the survivor of an abusive relationship is just de toute beaute.
Now comes the song “Sepi”, another hit song that has just made it to the semi-final of Juara Lagu. On a first impression, abang really love the song. It sounded different from her previous songs. It has a tinge of Korean musicality to it, which abang thought was a good move, considering that we are currently having this phenomenon known as the Korean Fever here is Southeast Asia. Not to mention the BTS-sensation that is happening in the western side of the world. So, in terms of her musicality or the sound of the song Sepi, abang thought it was about time for Aina to explore what else works for her. That being said that she retained the trademark piano intro even for Sepi. Listening to Sepi also reminds abang of how abang used to learn new English words back then. By listening to Mariah Carey, abang learned words such as incessantly, emblazoned, destitution, enraptured, elusive and ominously. In Aina’s sepi, abang learns malay words such as dirundung, perih and merintih, all put in the same opening verse. Abang not sure what is her inspiration to this new song, but base on the music video, it could very well be like the mini journal of her music career so far. A true Ainations will know that Aina’s journey has not been a bed of roses. Abang is very aware that there is a certain judge who advised Aina to start writing and composing her own songs so that she can have longevity in her singing career because in his words “Aina may have the voice, but she doesn’t have the package that recording company will look for”, alluding to the idea that Aina doesn’t have the pretty face that most recording company is looking for. The critic may be regarded as harsh especially for a new budding artist, but Aina took it in her stride and started recording her own company. She worked hard by covering songs on YouTube to get optics in the media and she went out of her way to try and get coverage be in the news or social media platform. And you can see this struggle and hard work being narrated in this new song of hers, Sepi. The journey as an artist, can be lonely especially when you are not supported and that is well-captured in the song.
Now, comparing Sepi with other songs competing for the top 13 spots in Juara Lagu, abang believe that Sepi has a high chance of being in the finals. The musicality and the lyrics blend harmo0niously together, and if Aina were to sing the song herself in the finals of Juara Lagu, she can paint a complete picture of what the song is supposed to mean, bringing her past experience and her past struggles being in the industry. If she were to get into the finals, abang feesl that the song has potential to be among the top three. So that is abang’s prediction for Aina’s Sepi.
Abang am also so happy that she actually published a Korean version of the song. It shows her versatility as a singer-songwriter.
P.s: If you have not listened to her song, aptly titled Aina Abdul, you should go do that now. It is like a remix of her three hit songs, Sumpah, Semalam, Sepi, which when you put together has so much meaning to her life. Congrats Aina!
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