KUALA LUMPUR – Homegrown psychedelic rock and jazz band SKITS have recently launched the physical release of their politically-charged new album ‘MALAYNIALS’.
The CD version of the album was originally slated to be released in June, but the band was finally able to unveil the tangible full-length release on November 9.
Digitally, the eight songs from the album were first uploaded exclusively on Spotify and Bandcamp on April 20.
Frontman Endee Ahmad said the album was politically themed, with the recording taking place just around the time the federal government exchanged hands from Pakatan Harapan to Perikatan Nasional earlier this year.
“I was also thinking of that famous Hang Tuah saying ‘takkan Melayu hilang di dunia’ (Malays won’t vanish from the face of the world), but I see Malay people losing their culture,” he explains.
“The recording took place when the power struggle happened. If you listen to (opening track) ‘Fall From Grace’, it starts off softly and touches on flora and fauna, but ends violently in frustration.”
However, Endee said although politics was not SKITS’ forte as a band, the album’s themes opened brief conversations on matters affecting the country.
“It’s not political in attacking any particular party, but it talks about what we think is wrong (in the country).”
He said the months-long delay in releasing the CD was brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic.
“We had trouble finding someone to replicate the CD and print the inlay and cover during the lockdown as hardly any places to do that were open.
“We even looked to pressing plants overseas, especially China at the time but things were far worse there. So we just decided to keep it as a digital release until things calmed down.”
Other than Endee, SKITS is comprised of guitarist Brendan Teh, Eric Wong on bass, and Ravi Shankar on drums. Wong was formerly a bass player in the legendary indie rock group OAG.
The release of the CD comes with the absence of Teh, who is currently residing in Sydney and is unable to return home due to the pandemic.
On ‘MALAYNIALS’, listeners can hear mischievous punky jams with sprawling sonic-scapes, mixed for familiar audio samples.
The album offers jumpy, dancey indie tunes, while the band’s style of music has been described as ‘psychedelic pop’, ‘progressive’, and ‘experimental’, to note a few.
Endee notes that the band has no specific genre in mind when it comes to crafting their tunes and the members have very different influences.
The KL-based quartet recently took part in Taiwan’s longest-running outdoor festival, ‘Rock In Taichung’, where they performed virtually to approximately 5,000 viewers.
Prior to the release of ‘MALAYNIALS’, the band also recorded a series of live videos at Pulse Sound Works, which later premiered on online show TapauLockdown.
The CD is available for RM35 (excluding postage) here: https://soundscape-records.com/product/skits-malaynials/
On the band’s future plans, Endee said the money collected from CD sales would allow the band to invest in equipment to do better online shows.
“We are also looking to write and compose more new material as time goes by,” he added. - The Vibes, November 21, 2020
