High Therapy once more adds vibrancy to the Jamaican Sound scene in Indonesia from their hometown, Tangerang, a city filled by the manufacturing Industry and its complexity. This time, this music duo came back with the slick single “Set Us Free.” 

“Set Us Free” is a petite yet powerful query brought by Hajaradit & Barirul, lasting no more than three minutes. It’s the question they ask that is highlighted in the style of homage to the mini-sociology laboratory introduced by 8-bit digital reggae several decades ago. And the lyrical style might sound like an antithesis compared to the popular reggae style in their city.

Bari, the frontman and drummer, opens the song with a monologue, “I see the old man looking for bliss, So, where is harmony? It doesn’t exist!” accompanied by an 8-bit MVG (music video game) ambience. Then they do the petition, with the imperative vocoded refrain, “Set Us Free!”

Indeed, this is not something new, but the “Existential Despair” thought wrapped in easy-skank is a fresh color for the Jamaican Sound releases in the country!

“Set Us Free” may not achieve the same level of popularity as “Bend Down” did, earning them a nomination for AMI (Anugerah Musik Indonesia) in the near future. However, if this single is just a curtain-raiser, prototype for their upcoming LP, High Therapy deserves the acknowledgment for their witty ideas they have introduced so far. This track, by this contrasting duo has the potential to be another force to make the Jamaican sound realm in the country colorful, or at least to the scene in their own city. “Set Us Free”  could shift the ambient sounds of birds amid the bustling factory into the harmonious “Rastaman Chant” within moments of solitude resonating with the spirit of Soren Kierkegaard.

(Sam)