FEBRUARY 18 — It may came as a shock that the winning song of this year’s 32nd Anugerah Juara Lagu (AJL) music awards was Hael Husaini’s debut single.
However, those familiar with the local music scene may have noticed that Hael is not exactly a new kid on the block.
He was one-half of the short-lived vocalist duo Azhael formed during the 10th season of reality talent show Akademi Fantasia where they finished as first runner-ups.
The duo lasted for four years, and although they made a bang with their single Hujung Waktu, their hit songs could be counted on one hand. After a disagreement over their future, Hael withdrew last year and they disbanded.
Hael’s award-winning single Jampi is the continuation of a trend of male vocalist renaissance in the local music industry that I first mentioned in my column in August last year.
However unlike last year’s AJL, young male singers like Hael, Haqiem Rusli, Khai Bahar and Syamel are also facing stiff competition from new up-and-coming female singers such as Salma Asis, Ara Johari and Wany Hasrita.
It is also worth mentioning that all three women managed to prove themselves with personas that are not usually associated with female pop stars. Ara chooses an androgynous look, while Salma and Wany both wear headscarves.
In perhaps an illustration of the exciting times Malay music finds itself in, many songs that were massive hits on radio did not even qualify as finalists.
Aisyah by Projector Band and Zalikha by Floor 88 come to mind — both folksy odes to the titular women, and throwbacks to that specific trend among rock bands of the late 1980s.
On a personal note, I was shocked that Sufian Suhaimi failed to get voted in despite his Harus Aku being sublimely performed.
At a glance, Hael’s Jampi is a simple piece. Co-written with Ezra Kong, the lyrics were written in short stanzas common in modern Malay music. The story is direct: Hael sings of a man who finds himself spell-bound by a woman.
Scratch the surface, however, and things get more interesting.
A big draw of the song which sets it apart from its competition is the chilling composition, which evokes the macabre, and is further referenced by Hael who calls the woman “a mystery.”
In an interview with Malay Mail’s sister publication ProjekMMO, Hael revealed that he found inspiration for the song at 3am... and it is not hard to imagine the sort of muse that whispers in the quiet wee hours.
What first caught my attention however was the word “jampi” itself, which means spell or incantation. After all, it is not a word often used in Malay songs, what more a love song.
“And when you come as a mystery / Truly it’s like I’m under a spell / And when you enslave my heart again / Truly only you that I shall love,” the chorus goes.
“The spell” here not only catches the protagonist’s affection, but enslaves his heart to only be able to love the woman -- in some sort of unavoidable possessiveness. Who is this evil woman, and what possessed her to put him under a spell?
But Hael’s revelation in the same ProjekMMO interview shed some light on the writing process.
“The story of the song is about someone who is clever at manipulating situations. She likes someone but she is shy about it. Instead, she makes him like her,” Hael said.
The intention of the writers was to portray the woman as the one “at fault” when it comes to such overwhelming emotions.
Instead of owning up to one’s desire, lust and emotions, the protagonist instead shifted the responsibility to the woman who had cast the spell -- telling himself that he was manipulated into the attraction that was originally the woman’s.
In Malay society, spells and hypnosis -- “pukau” in the language -- have long been used as excuses and scapegoats for lapses in judgment, and in some cases, lust.
“Pukau” has been used as the excuse for sometimes one’s own mistake and cock-up, from being pick-pocketed and robbed, to sex out of wedlock, unwanted pregnancies, and even rape.
It is a perfect deflection. When someone is spellbound or under hypnosis, whatever his action was not borne out of deliberate and rational decision-making. He has no memories of it. But more importantly, he has no free will.
Hael’s song perfectly captures this anxiety over getting spellbound and losing one’s mental faculty. And all this, over love, something that is immensely irrational and emotional in the first place.
In the bridge, Hael’s protagonist cannot shake off his visions of her even as nights go by... and he asks what is happening to him.
It serves as a reminder to men, that denying emotions and feelings is not only futile, but may be damaging to the mind. Instead of making the woman who is the object of desire the culprit, men should learn how to tackle such feelings healthily, and find a way to express them rather than keeping them bubbling inside.
As long as Malay men do not come to terms with their feelings and emotions, and instead manifest them as anxiety towards the supernatural, then indeed women will come off as a mystery.
