TEMPO.CO, Surakarta -“Sehat and waras and healthy, my awak always capek sekali. Sirahku sirahku sirahku sirahku, please protect me. Stop the mumet stop the mumet stop the mumet...”
The lyric, taken from a song entitled Mumet (Headache), was sung by an American woman who was about to release an album at Lokananta Studio on Sunday, June 28, 2015. What made it unique was that the American woman used a singing technique as eloquent as Javanese traditional female singer.
Over the last three years, Megan O`Donohgue, an opera singer, studied to be a Javanese traditinal singer at the Indonesia Institute of Art (ISI) in Solo, Central Java. During her study in Solo, she was frequently featured in performances of well-known puppet masters, such as Ki Manteb Sudarsono, Ki Enthus Susmono and Ki Purbo Asmoro.
Later, Megan expressed her talent by releasing an album called Peshawar that she recorded from March to May this year. The album consists of nine songs presented in three languages: English, Indonesian and Javanese. In several tracks, she even used the three languages.
Megan recorded the album with help from Gemati group, comprising a number of Solo musicians, such as Gondrong Gunarto (lute), Joko Gombloh (bass guitar), Misbah Bilok (flute), and Si Doel Pecas Ndahe (Cello). The genre was quite varied, ranging from modern pop to keroncong.
However, the lyrics are rather difficult to understand since there is no cohesion between a verse and the other. Most of the songs are stories about her experience studying in Indonesia.
“The lyrics flow just like that in my head,” Megan said.
Art observer from Yogyakarta Sutanto Mendut said that there was nothing wrong with the lyric in Megan’s songs.
“The songs are very easy to enjoy,” Sutanto said.
Endah Laras, a Javanese female singer from Solo, said that she was impressed with how quickly Megan learned the traditional music. According to Laras, Megan did not use half of her capability since she also masters Sundanese and Banyuwangi vocal techniques.
AHMAD RAFIQ
