JAKARTA, Indonesia — Indonesian pop rock act lightcraft has just dropped their latest single Coming Home on April 25, 2024, and the brand new track features a global collaboration with Dumaguete, Philippines hometown hero Chelsea Dawn and rising pop rock stars of Cebu, Philippines, Coloura. Coming Home is now available globally on all major streaming platforms including Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube Music, and more.
The collaboration between lightcraft, Chelsea Dawn, and Coloura saw its beginnings when Melt Records cofounder Dexter Sy got acquainted with lightcraft’s Imam Surataruna at the 2022 ASEAN Music Showcase Festival in Singapore. They later connected to talk about lightcraft’s plans of touring the Philippines, and a lightbulb lit up for the collaboration to happen.
Coming Home was originally written by Surataruna but, at the point when the collaboration took shape, was yet in an early draft state. Chelsea Dawn Bureros contributed her powerful and distinct vocal chops to the track, singing the opening verse and adding lovely textures to the song’s hooks. Jake Relacion of Coloura, on the other hand, added his unique production style, infusing signature synths and samples and elevating the arrangement to its final form.
“It’s not about where or how the place is; it’s about what you feel and what gives you purpose in life.”
Imam Surataruna (lightcraft), on what “home” means
The song builds around the idea of “home” and what it truly means. Being Indonesian but having formed in Malaysia where the members attended university together, the band had a hard time acclimating to the idea of a “home base”, even as they returned to Jakarta and continued to perform as a band. “It feels strange. We’ve been here [in Jakarta] for a while but never gained a foothold here or anywhere else. We’re still seen as outsiders,” describes Surataruna.
The experience of the pandemic, ironically, provided a moment of clarity. “Being at home with loved ones with nowhere to go for days, I realized that home is simply wherever you are comfortable,” he reflects. “It’s not about where or how the place is; it’s about what you feel and what gives you purpose in life.”
Despite the geographical distance, the collaboration between the song’s performers went as seamlessly as it could get. “They’re very easy to talk to,” Bureros said of the experience. “They were clear about what they want and they pretty much let us be our authentic selves.” Relacion echoed the same sentiments. “I loved the overall process of making the song,” he said. “The people involved in the process had a lot of ideas to share to make the song as intricate as it is.”
Behind the scenes, the staffing was just as diverse, with the evocative cover art for the track designed by Indonesian illustrator Kartika Paramita and the Philippines’ Miguel Lim adding a final gloss on the audio master. In addition to the streaming release, a lyric video featuring day-in-the-life shots from each performer in their respective locales — from Dumaguete City and Cebu City in the Philippines to Jakarta in Indonesia — was edited and put together by Jakarta-based filmmaker Reksa Fajar, a long time collaborator of lightcraft.
Coming Home is the carrier single for an upcoming “reanimated” edition of lightcraft’s latest album Hope + Love, originally released in 2022. The deluxe edition of the album also features remixes of some of the most beloved tracks from the collection, including Like A Fire and This Day & Age. It is currently set for a late May 2024 release date.
Stream lightcraft’s new track “Coming Home” on your favorite streaming platforms or download the track via Bandcamp. Watch the lyric video on lightcraft’s YouTube channel.
Stream “Coming Home” on Spotify or download it from the Melt Records Bandcamp store!