Hailing from South Jakarta, Indonesia, SMSR are five friends-since-childhood who often gather together “in narrow and dusty rooms” and create music that is difficult to characterise, but could broadly be called space age pop. Consisting of Rerez (synths, keys, vocals), Ardana (guitar), Arya (guitar), Reygi (bass), and Widan (drums), SMSR experiment with a range of approaches and genres – for example, there are nods to jazz, progressive rock (the good kind), and pop in the excellent Gentle Seed alone, but it’s well worth checking out their discography on Spotify for more proof of their dexterity – especially previous single The Sentiment which is radically different yet equally impressive. Put as succinctly as possible: their stuff is fantastic.

Similar in tone to artists such as Grizzly Bear, Tame Impala, and Sean Ono Lennon, Gentle Seed is a sprawling pop beast that surprises with each twist and turn as it winds its way to its conclusion. Synths whirl, guitars shimmer, backing vocals build up in ever-dizzying layers, and Rerez’s gorgeous vocals glide through it all like a hot knife through butter. There’s an immaculate sense of melody driving the song forward, and shades of Thom Yorke in the fluid feel of the vocal. In addition, the production s playful and slick, and manages to juggle a huge range of sounds and ideas into a coherent four minutes and forty-two seconds of glorious noise. I particularly like what I guess could be classified as the middle 8, where huge guitars seem to takeover and briefly derail the track (in the best way possible) before normal business is resumed. In terms of the lyrical content, it’s perhaps best that I let the band explain in their own words:

Gentle Seed tries to send messages that each human being has their own timeline. Indeed, it often happens in big cities, pressure from all sides will make many people think that they are far behind their peers and eventually forget that life is not a race to be won. We will have time to shine and stand as gentle seeds as we wish.

I like the mysterious, poetic quality to the term ‘gentle seed’. It also perfectly sums up the band’s philosophical approach to their craft. Indeed their name – SMSR – is derived from the word Samsara, which in Buddhism refers to “the beginningless cycle of repeated birth, mundane existence and dying again”. It’s an interesting and thought-provoking name for sure, but on the strength of The Sentiment and Gentle Seed, there’s nothing mundane about SMSR.

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You can find out more about SMSR on Facebook and Instagram.