Listening to Okirama evokes feelings that one could only experience in certain moments: A romantic night out bathed in city lights. A three-hour road trip with no plans in sight. A warm, lonely night in your room, pondering the ‘what ifs’ with your partner amidst a lockdown. The Johor-based unit has released 13 singles since 2019, and they geared up for a more solid presence in the scene when they unveiled an EP titled 4 Cara Untuk Berpisah in September. However, according to its frontman Shah Iskandar, the EP wasn’t the band’s main or best offering. Okirama had set its sights on releasing its debut album, titled Perjalanan Ke Sana later this year. Admittedly, Shah said that crafting the album tracks was a more time-consuming process, involving collaborative songwriting by the entire band.

While waiting for the album to reach its final form, Okirama decided to release this EP. When the idea sprung on a random day during the album-making process, Shah delved into his song archives from 2017 to 2018, revisiting past works that resonated with the theme of a breakup record.

Then, 4 Cara Untuk Berpisah came to life — a four-track EP that explores the woes of breakups from the perspectives of lovers, capturing the nuances of the good and the bad of ending a relationship:

“Pertama”

“Sayangnya, kita tak patut bersama / Tapi aku gembira mengenalmu”

“It makes sense for us to put “Pertama” as the first track of the EP given its name. This track is about two people in a relationship who had to go their own ways not because they don’t love each other anymore, but because of irreconcilable differences. One thing I like about this track is how the lyrics go from positive to negative back to positive. It transitions from a flashback to the present moment of the breakup and then back to the flashback.”

“The voice note in the song is from our friend. I can’t really remember what she said because she sent many voice notes to us. We layered them all together since we felt like there was a missing piece in the song.”

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“Hatiku Kemarau”

“Hatiku kemarau yang berpanjangan / Tak perlu kau mencuba untuk bertahan”

“This one is written from the perspective of the “villain” in the relationship. I think it’s quite rare in songwriting to have the consciousness that you’re the one who’s at fault in the relationship; people tend to think they’re the victim. The idea of the song came from the phrase “Hatiku Kemarau” itself. I tend to see songwriting as a puzzle for me, and the first piece is always the song title.”

“The narrator is emotionally unavailable. He pretended to be in love when he wasn’t. So, at some point, he admitted to his partner, and that’s what the song is about. This was written around 2017 or 2018, I had a lot of time to write songs when I was still studying.”

“Not exactly a fun fact, but we actually lost the original file for “Hatiku Kemarau.” All that remains is the mp3 file, making it impossible to edit or amend the song. Our future plan is to re-record and share the better version. I think producers or anyone who has made their own music could tell of its flaws.”

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“Melodi Ini”

“Satu lagi peluang untukmu jika kau mahu / Harap ini kali yang terakhir”

“Melodi Ini” is about a toxic relationship, feeling broken because your partner keeps making mistakes, but you never close the door on them. No matter how hurt you are, you’re still willing to have them in your life. Out of the four songs in the EP, we actually expected “Pertama” to be the crowd’s favorite. But so far, we have received many receptions from listeners saying they favoured “Melodi Ini”

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“Sihir”

“Kenangan manis hanya kenangan / Orang ketiga atau lapan / Tak perlu kira, mereka ada”

“This track is about a cursed relationship. What makes it different from the rest of the tracks is that both people in the relationship cheat on each other. It’s a complicated mess that can’t be untangled. Even though there were happy times, they’re just memories now. Like most of my songs, I started writing this with my guitar and decided the lyrics based on what the song needs. It’s not so much about the emotions I’m trying to express. From its sound design to vocal processing, “Sihir” fits the narrative of the story.”

Listen to the full EP on Spotify: