hara – Seroja

Preview Track: Seroja

After the release of her debut EP Kenduri in June 2021, hara is back with her first release of the year, a song titled Seroja (Lotus). Seroja is a song written by Rara Sekar to celebrate the life and art of a close friend and mentor, Gunawan Maryanto, who suddenly passed away in October 2021. In Seroja, hara shares her experience going through grief as it is, without the need for her to present it as either a beautiful or romantic feeling. “Grief is something inevitable in life, everyone has or will experience it. But the loss of Mas C (or Mas Cindhil, Gunawan Maryanto’s nickname) was my first time losing a close friend. Losing him made me realize that however frequent we experience loss, grief is always new, always heartbreaking.” And each tear 
is a bud of prayer And grief is love that couldn’t have been Bringing color that is slightly different from previous hara songs, in Seroja hara invites Lafa Pratomo (Co-producer of Danilla Riyadi/Swadaya Insani/Ruang Waktu Music) to fill in the guitar arrangement and performance and Indah Wulandari to join in on the trumpet. In producing this song, hara was mostly inspired by sad songs from the 50s-70s, blending grief with a sense of nostalgia. In this song, hara also weaves her lyrics with a reading of the poem Jeda yang Ajaib (A Magical Interlude), performed and written by Gunawan Maryanto himself. This poem was published on Gunawan Maryanto’s Instagram account on March 27, 2020, one of several poems that he wrote during the early months of the pandemic quarantine. Gunawan Maryanto was a theater director, writer, actor and artist in residence of Teater Garasi. Gunawan Maryanto passed away on October 6, 2021 due to a heart attack. Seroja was released by hara on April 10, 2022, the day Gunawan Maryanto was supposed to have turned 46 years old.

This release is an exclusive to The Store Front.