Apa bedanya ‘mengenang’ dengan ‘mengingat’? Kenapa kita suka ‘mengenang’ masa lalu, tapi enggan ‘mengingat’ yang ‘sudah-sudah’? ‘Kenangan’ atau momen-momen ‘nostalgik’ kita katakan sering menyergap tiba-tiba, sementara ‘ingatan’ harus dirawat dan diperjuangkan. Lagu-lagu dalam album perdana Lucy Freia (Aya) ini, menurut saya, membawa kita dalam perjalanan mental keluar-masuk dari kedua moda itu.

Sebagian kawan bersepakat bahwa album ini sangat sinematik: menggugah bayangan visual kita atas suatu adegan. Genre sinemanya, menurut saya, cenderung horor atau thriller—wilayah yang tidak baru bagi Aya. Sebagai perempuan komponis yang aktif menciptakan musik untuk ensambel gesek maupun orkestra, ia pernah mengeksplorasi fenomena ketindihan (Ketindihan), sundel bolong (Anakku Mana), maupun ‘mimpi’ sebagai ruang antara tidur dan sadar (30 Seconds Before Waking Up).

Namun kali ini, elemen bunyi dalam komposisi yang ia pakai untuk meracik adegan-adegan sonik itu bertambah: ada sample siaran berita yang terputus-putus, cuplikan suara dari film animasi masa kecil, bunyi lonceng, hingga melodi piano/synth yang merayap-membuncah, di atas suara pad gelap. Efek-efek distorsi dan tata suara spasial pun diolah agar tubuh pendengar makin terbenam dalam setiap adegan.

Sesekali, kemresek radio hadir sebagai jembatan antar adegan—seakan-akan mengantar kita tuning in/out of bunyi-bunyi akrab dan asing yang dipadukan sepanjang komposisi. Paduan ini jangan-jangan adalah metode spesial dalam peracikan ‘nostalgia disruptif’ Aya. Apa yang nyaman atas kenangan + apa yang mengganggu dari ingatan-ingatan yang muncul sepanjang momen nostalgis itu = pengalaman reproduksi memori yang tak pernah sesederhana yang kita kira. Selamat menjelajahi ruang gelap gempita ini.

— Leilani Hermiasih

Lucy Freia adalah seorang komponis berbasis di Bandung, Indonesia. Pada tahun 2022-2023, ia belajar komposisi secara privat dengan Matius Shanboone, dan pada tahun 2023-2025 ia melanjutkan studinya di Royal College of Music, London, di bawah bimbingan Kenneth Hesketh.

Freia merupakan anggota aktif Perempuan Komponis dan Puantronik Study Club, serta tergabung ke dalam Electronica Society dari Royal College of Music selama menempuh studi Magisternya. Sejak tahun 2018, ia telah aktif menulis karya-karya bergenre klasik kontemporer maupun non-klasik, dengan pengaruh dari komponis-komponis abad 20 dan abad 21, subgenre-subgenre musik rock, dan musik elektronik. Sejak tahun 2022, Freia mendalami musik elektronik dan telah menulis beberapa karya baik dalam bentuk fixed-media, instalasi — telah ditampilkan pada Electric Dreams: Constellation di Royal College of Music — maupun hybrid akustik-elektronik — ditampilkan oleh Acacia Youth String Orchestra di Selasar Sunaryo pada tahun 2025 dan Museum MACAN pada tahun 2026.

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What’s the difference between ‘mengenang’ (to reminisce) and ‘mengingat’ (to remember)? Why do we love to ‘reminisce’ about the past, but hesitate to ‘remember’ things that are ‘long gone’? We say that ‘memories’ or ‘nostalgic moments’ often ambush us suddenly, while ‘remembrance’ must be nurtured and fought for. The songs on Lucy Freia (Aya)’s debut album, in my view, take us on a mental journey in and out of these two modes.

Some friends agree that this album is highly cinematic: it evokes visual imagery of particular scenes. As for the genre of that cinema, I’d say it leans toward horror or thriller—territory that is not new for Aya. As a female composer actively creating music for string ensembles and orchestras, she has previously explored phenomena such as sleep paralysis (Ketindihan), the Sundel Bolong (a ghost in Indonesian folklore, in Anakku Mana), and ‘dreams’ as a space between sleep and wakefulness (30 Seconds Before Waking Up).

This time, however, the sonic elements she uses to craft these soundscapes have expanded: there are samples of fragmented news broadcasts, clips from childhood animated films, the sound of bells, and creeping-swelling piano/synth melodies layered over dark pads. Distortion effects and spatial audio techniques are also employed to immerse the listener’s body even deeper into each scene.

Occasionally, the crackle of a radio serves as a bridge between scenes—as if guiding us to tune in and out of familiar and unfamiliar sounds blended throughout the composition. This fusion might just be Aya’s special method for concocting ‘disruptive nostalgia’. The comfort of memories + the disturbance of recollections that surface during nostalgic moments = an experience of memory reproduction that is never as simple as we think. Enjoy getting lost in this dark and restless space. — Leilani Hermiasih

Lucy Freia is a composer based in Bandung, Indonesia. In 2022–2023, she studied composition privately with Matius Shanboone, and from 2023 to 2025 she continued her studies at the Royal College of Music, London, under the guidance of Kenneth Hesketh.

Freia is an active member of Perempuan Komponis and the Puantronik Study Club, and was also part of the Electronica Society at the Royal College of Music during her Master’s studies. Since 2018, she has been actively writing works in both contemporary classical and non-classical genres, influenced by 20th- and 21st-century composers, rock music subgenres, and electronic music. Since 2022, Freia has delved into electronic music and has written several works in fixed-media format, installations—presented at Electric Dreams: Constellation at the Royal College of Music—as well as acoustic-electronic hybrid pieces—performed by the Acacia Youth String Orchestra at Selasar Sunaryo in 2025 and at Museum MACAN in 2026.

Composer: Lucy Freia
Mixing & mastering: Lucy Freia, Cil Satriawan
Field recording: Lucy Freia
Spoken word: Lucy Freia (The (Day)dreams Persist, I Persist), Anisa Noviello (Disruptive Nostalgia), Margarida Gonçalves (Disruptive Nostalgia), Darren Xu (Disruptive Nostalgia)
Piano: Joshua Tang (Disruptive Nostalgia)

Cover Art: Lucy Freia
Profile photo: Tin Satriawan

Released by Yes No Wave Music
2026

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