For a lot of people, a mother in all her wisdom is an unending source of inspiration. Singer-songwriter Agatha Pricilla chose to honor it by dedicating her debut EP, Adriana, after her mother. Surrounded by friends and collaborators in an intimate setting, Oliv became the place where Pricilla first played her new EP in its entirety last Thursday (25/5).
As the songs played, Pricilla walked us through the process and inspiration behind Adriana. Her mother is, of course, someone very dear to her; an unyielding supporter who's never afraid to speak her mind objectively. Her wisdom that has guided Pricilla throughout her life is interwoven in the EP, as is her love. Coincidentally, Adriana is also Pricilla's great grandmother's name—as told by her mother in a surprise video for the listening session.
While Pricilla stated that it was not a deliberate decision, the songs in Adriana played like a long narrative. The first two tracks feel like a direct retelling of her mother's wisdom to her—with the pronouns you, kamu, and kau being used to tell the narrative—and track three onwards is how Pricilla tried to live with her mother's words intertwined within her daily struggles, with Pricilla taking center stage as the narrator of her own stories.
With a heavy pop/R&B inflections, Adriana manages to sound bright despite dealing with personal struggles. Pricilla herself said that she hopes that while what she's dealing with is personal to her, listeners can find kinship in knowing that they're not alone. Sonically, the second track, "Ruang", stands in contrast to the rest of the ensemble. Its pared-back instrumentation somehow feels a bit mismatched compared to the lush arrangement of its preceding and subsequent songs—perhaps in part due to it being produced significantly earlier than the rest of the EP, with a different team behind it—but it fits the overarching theme well.
After the listening session concluded, producer Lafa Pratomo came forward to discuss his working process with Pricilla. What they described as a fun and fluid process is reflected in the EP's colorful soundscape. At the end, Pricilla took the stage one last time to perform stripped-back renditions of the songs in Adriana. Sometimes soft, other times spirited, her voice is even more compelling live. Surrounded by friends singing along to her words, Pricilla smiled back—completely in her element.
(alm/tim)