Two years after his full-length album ‘Angin Kencang’, Noh Salleh brings spark back to his solo career with new single ‘Debu Bercahaya’.
Noh Salleh is known as both the lead singer of indie rock band Hujan and as a solo artist. In his solo works, he’s been known to adopt a French pop sound, reminiscent of the romantic Nusantara sounds of artists like Mondo Gascaro (who incidentally produced his Angin Kencang EP back in 2014), Payung Teduh & Sore.
With Debu Bercahaya, Noh Salleh goes for more and the same but with the addition of influences like Oasis and Bittersweet’s ‘Hilang’ into the mix.
“I don’t really care about the market. I make music for my own pursuit of happiness, my own satisfaction as an artist”, said Noh Salleh at the launching of his new single and music video. “But I do feel a responsibility to show to musicians and listeners alike the existence of sounds like French pop. It’s a choice available to you in the world of music”.
As for the song’s meaning, Noh Salleh explained that ‘Debu Bercahaya’ is in reference to the Islamic belief that human beings are made of dust. “More specifically, I’m talking about the dust that come from flames, the fiery sparks. Since we’re all essentially dust, we might as well strife to be the bright and shining kind”.
This symbolism is also shown in its music video, with scenes of Noh Salleh playing his guitar by a bonfire. The music video for Debu Bercahaya centers around the artist riding solo down a highway on his motorcycle, with beautiful shots of forest and coastal scenery. The cinematography and music combined captures a lonely type of romance.
“I know it looks like a commercial for ‘Hikari Riders’ (Noh Salleh’s clothing brand), that’s not on purpose”, he commented while smiling, “I promise I’m not trying to aggressively sell anything. The video is just meant to show who I am. This is me”.
The music video is directed by Ahmad Faris of indie entertainment channel TAPAUtv. In making Debu Bercahaya’s challenging, moving highway shots possible, his team collaborated with the people behind Vans’ documentary, Demi, on legendary Malaysian skater Pa’din Musa.
When asked how Ahmad Faris translated the song into music video form, he responded: “Sometimes people focus on creating a story in a music video, but when I listen to a song, I don’t listen to the story, I pay attention to how it makes me feel”.
Besides the launch of the music video and song Debu Bercahaya, Noh Salleh also previewed another new song called ‘Mahu Ke Mana’. The track is a romantic dedication to his wife, Mizz Nina. Both Debu Bercahaya & Mahu Ke Mana are available to order on Noh Salleh’s social media platforms.
At the moment the singer-songwriter has not released a date for a future album, but as evident with this new single, Noh Salleh has shown that he has not lost his songwriting edge.
