SACREDLY AGNEZIOUS - AGNES MONICA

Perhaps this is one of the most anticipated album after Peterpan's Hari Yang Cerah (2007) which was released in a gap of more than one year than previous album, plus they took almost a year hiatus during that time. Sacredly Agnezious is released nearly 3.5 years after Agnes' second album. The first single was introduced one year ago and the album name was announced several months after. This album also her remarks as a song composer, where she never did in before.

Background

I remembered Indo's VJ Daniel mentioned many times during June/July 2008 in MTV Ampuh that Agnes was working on two albums, one indonesian and one international, in which she would be the producer, first breakthrough for her. In August finally she officially announced title of her new album, and surprisingly, there was no updated information about the album, till March 2009.

First new song revealed is 'Matahariku', as soundtrack for her TV serial in early 2008. Being surprised that the song got so high popularity that reached ringbacktone number of around 1 million, the label company immediately produced an MV for the song, resulted in her simplest video so far. Second single is 'Godai Aku Lagi'. The main difference from 'Matahariku' is that GAL was released as the expected strongest song in the new album, not by chance. The MV was released in August'08 and together with 'Matahariku', both songs are released as a single titled 'NEZ'. This single also remarked that her album was postponed without any valid reasons.

Tracklist:

1. Godai Aku Lagi
Agnes' first own composed song. I listened to this song firstly around late July/early August '08 from radio. First impression was, 'what song is this?!#$%@ '. However later I found that the melody is so catchy and strong enough. I think the song might be better if the whole main background music was Pop-R&B instead of electro/disco/Hip-Hop, because this kind of music will not get into Indonesian music, at all, ever. I love the song more after the video was created. It's cool but the problem is, am I watching a few seconds of Rihanna here??

2. Janji Janji
Simply love it. The only song that reminds me of her previous album. The rests are new styles. I hope this will be the 4th single. Sadly this is rather disappointed that in this album there is no huge upbeat song like 'Bilang Saja' or 'Tak Ada Logika'.



3. Hanya Menunggu
Electro/HipHop genre which is now so popular in the US. Actually there are several genres in this song. I get bored in the middle. The ending gets interesting though. But, hey I hear 'baby boy' in the end, it's Beyonce's trademark, but okay whatever. Weakest upbeat song in this album, but not that bad.

4. Teruskanlah
3rd single. Its music video was released together with the album. I love the high pitch in the last reff. Nothing interesting actually.

5. Coz I Love You
Most beautiful , relaxing song in the album, in terms of music, lyric, and voice. She sang this so softly that the first verse reminds me of Sherina lol. I wish either this or 'Rapuh' will be the next ballad single. She composed the song together with Sandy, but I guess the main melody was done by Sandy.

6. A. G. N. E. Z
Interesting song. So much English used here. Although composed together with Yudis, I guess she wrote the whole lyric. I am wondering who a rapper featuring in this song is. Album Launching (April 1, 2009)

7. Berlebihan
Another Sandy's composition, but somehow I get bored for first one minute. The rest is so nice. Maybe because I do not like jazzy song lol. Nothing special for me in this song except her vocal performance. As the title says, it's a six-minutes length song!!

8. Matahariku
Absolutely the best ballad, personally I think her best ballad ever as well as her best performance for any ballads. I wonder how come the label could not predict this song to be a huge hit. They did the video so instant. Although she appears beautifully, this song reserved much better quality video than that. Her vocal here is very dynamic. Sometimes I think it's too much. I don't know it's a good sign or bad, but for me it's perfect. I think she recorded this song many times, and the result is perfect, but she herself cannot sing this song live that dynamic. Love the intro, verse, chorus, interlude, and perfect ending. Just perfect. Surprise!! The composer is a new comer in the industry...

9. Shake It Off
Bali!!!! Yeah I imagined Balinese culture everytime listening to this song, makes me want to go there one day T_T. Sang (no, lipsync actually) first time in October'08 Asia Song Festival in South Korea, she showed another self-composed song by her. Maybe a new innovation. She mentioned it's a mix of many genres. For me, Erwin Gutawa's arrangement affects it more pop than should be, although his arrangement is extremely great. The music sounds using many traditional instruments. First part of the lyric is Indonesian, followed by English in the rest. I wish this is the 4th single, but because of too many English used, I doubt it will. My only problem is, what is the meaning/message of this song???

10. Rapuh
As predicted. this song is so great. No one wondering if they know the composer is Badai 'Kerispatih'.

There are another 3 songs for intro-interlude-outro.

As conclusion, does the album worth 3 years ++ of anticipation?