Whilst growing up, moving from home was a regular occurrence for the singer-songwriter Sandrayati. As a child, she witnessed her parents fighting for the rights of indigenous peoples. Her sense of home was shaped by human connections whilst observing each indigenous community’s relationship with their land and immediate surroundings. Her latest single “Suara Dunia,” out from Decca Records, draws particular inspiration from the Mollo people, an indigenous community from East Indonesia.
Born to a Filipino mother and American father, and raised on the islands of Java and Bali, Sandrayati grew up embracing music, sharing an affection for folk and protest-themed songs with her parents. Drawing on the challenges her parents faced in their work, Sandrayati began writing her first songs when the family relocated from Indonesia to the Philippines. She struggled with the sudden upheaval and needed to express coinciding themes of identity and courage. Last year, the singer and guitarist elaborated on this when she collaborated with Damien Rice and Icelandic artist Jófríður Ákadóttir, releasing a powerful tribute – “Song for Berta” – to slain Honduran environmental activist and indigenous leader Berta Cáceres. She also represented Asia when she performed at the COP26 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Glasgow.
As an individual who’s always felt she “belongs to many places,” the 2020 COVID lockdowns left Sandrayati feeling displaced from a home that she could not return to. Produced by the Grammy-nominated composer Ólafur Arnalds, this record became the ultimate sanctuary for Sandrayati, making her location less irrelevant. Describing the writing and recording experience as a personal “landing,” Sandrayati discovered a mature voice in this enthralling new landscape. Eventually reaching out to find many awaiting hands of a new community, she hopes to offer a similar comfort for those lost souls reinventing their idea of home.
Sandrayati’s Safe Ground will be released on March 17th, 2023
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