Morad

Since 2019, Indonesian singer-songwriter, Morad has been releasing singles as varied and unique as he is. He was nominated for Best Alternative Performance for his blues-infused single ‘How’ at the 2021’s Indonesian Music Awards. The following year, his hugely popular and wistfully soulful single ‘If Tomorrow I’m Losing You’ had over a million streams on Spotify and, alongside favourable NME interviews, he released his debut studio album ‘About A Woman’.

‘I Lost My Smile Somewhere’ is another string to Morad’s bow. This brand new single shares a summer release in common with one of the greatest troubadours of all-time. As the first trailer for Bob Dylan’s upcoming biopic ‘A Complete Unknown’ dropped this week, it has stirred up global conversations about the historical impact of folk and country on present-day music. When considering the next generation of musicians inspired by the likes of Dylan, we need to go no further than Morad. Having cited influences from Nick Drake, Leonard Cohen, Neil Young, and Paolo Nutini, Morad opens himself to his folksy side with touches of sentimental pop lyricism.

As a young and versatile artist, Morad ventures into a new style and direction, ‘I Lost My Smile Somewhere’ uses warm-tones and Americana drawls. Providing pacing with steady tambourine taps, Morad’s intimate vocals are accompanied by hypnotic rhythm guitar and layers of strings, piano, percussion as well as cathartic pleas delivered through Morad’s backing vocals. We soar with him as emotions fly high, until about half a minute before this immensely impressive track ends, when we hear a holy sounding organ escort us to a tranquil finale.

If you haven’t listened to his previous minimalist acoustic guitar single, ‘Heartless Man’, it’s another labour of love authentically leaning into country style heart-ache.

‘I Lost My Smile Somewhere’ is available now on all major streaming platforms.