On her third full-length album, ‘Terkunci Di Kamu’, Lyodra embraces pop conventionality that should satisfy hardcore fans but may not resonate deeply in a world that has changed dramatically since her previous album.
Last year, I had a chance to have a conversation with several freshman college students, my intention being to have a better understanding of the tastes of the younger music audiences. So, imagine my surprise when these 19-year-old youngsters told me that the type of music that they liked the least was actually conventional pop music, especially the ballads. They would listen to that kind of music casually or accidentally—for instance, when they hang out at Starbucks, and suddenly those ballads play in the background—but ultimately, they found such music too ‘old-school’ and outdated for their taste. When it comes to listening to a whole album, buying merchandise, and spending money to watch a concert, they preferred artists that are a bit more masculine, musically wilder, more ingenious, as well as more brutally honest in their music.
As time went on, I started gaining more understanding of why contemporary music audiences can be such contrarians. Very recently, I read an opinion piece in The Jakarta Post titled “Why Indonesians feel increasingly bitter today,” which touches on the collective pent-up anger currently sweeping society due to worsening economic gaps, fragile political stability, and digital polarisation—just to name a few.
Personally, I have also seen how this pent-up anger has struck a chord among the younger people. Romantic drama has now become the least of their life’s problems, now that the fear of unemployment is bigger than the fear of being dumped. They are no longer in the mood for being galau—what they want now is to scream, shout, and feel seen for their anxieties, anger, grief, disappointment, and exhaustion. No wonder why music listeners nowadays prefer something rougher. But this also leads to a very distressing question: does this mean that conventional pop music no longer has a place?
Lyodra’s third full-length album, Terkunci Di Kamu, dropped in October 2026. It is a very different world compared to when she released her previous album, Melangkah, back in 2024. Too many things have happened to everyone since then. Simple music hints at a simple life, and today, nothing in life is simple anymore. It is understandable why, in the past couple of years, more complex sounds have practically replaced the dominance that soft-pop and pure-pop music once had. And with Terkunci Di Kamu, Lyodra seems keen on bringing conventional pop music back into the fold.
All things considered, Terkunci Di Kamu proves that Lyodra has finally mastered the art of ‘beautifying’ a song. The album’s opening track, “Teganya Kau”, is actually a very basic and simple ballad, but it is effectively given life and soul thanks to Lyodra’s combination of precise vocals and infectious charisma. “Harapan Semu” feels like the wrong choice for a second track, as the ballad turns out to be even weaker than “Teganya Kau”. That being said, Lyodra’s charming presence in “Harapan Semu” is front and centre, and she manages to carry the tune effortlessly and convincingly, so much so that the album’s listeners should have no problem carrying on with the album’s subsequent tracks.
Throughout the entirety of Terkunci Di Kamu, it is as though Lyodra, her songwriters, and her music producers had thoughtfully kept in mind what the loyal, hardcore fans would expect the most from the 23-year-old songstress. “Apa Maksud Tuhan Pertemukan Kita?” finds Lyodra joining forces with songwriter Mario G. Klau once again (“Pesan Terakhir”, “Tak Dianggap”). The result, as expected, is powerful enough that it could become Lyodra’s next streaming hit following “Teganya Kau”. Sometimes, there is undeniable allure and strength in delivering what is expected, and personally speaking, I don’t mind listening to “Apa Maksud Tuhan Pertemukan Kita?” on repeat.
(The brief guitar solo in the song’s bridge, in particular, is a really nice touch. Kudos to the song’s producer, Mardenwil, for giving the ballad a little rock energy.)
Considering the previous success of “Tak Dianggap”, the hardcore fans should also be happy seeing Lyodra in the ‘betrayed-and-wounded’ mode once again, as evident in “Pura Pura” and “Bodohnya Aku.” It is also Lyodra’s charm that prevents the album’s saddest songs from getting too depressing, and it is a great relief to see that her vocal prowess is still as undeniable as it was back when she first debuted as a teenager.
Terkunci Di Kamu should be satisfactory enough for Lyodra’s hardcore fans. But for other music audiences and those who wish for Lyodra to shake things up and deliver something groundbreaking? Well, this album may not exactly be your cup of tea. On paper, the prospect of Lyodra sharing vocal space with Bilal Indrajaya (“Bersamamu”) could be really mindblowing as well as creatively invigorating—but the final result turns out to be more cosy than enchanting. “BUCIN’T” doesn’t deliver enough edge to put listeners giddy with shock and awe, especially for those who have been wishing that Lyodra would try her hand in the R&B genre someday. (Personally, I still hope that Lyodra goes deep into the R&B universe someday, though.)
In comparison to her previous albums—Lyodra (2021) and Melangkah (2024)—Terkunci Di Kamu doesn’t deliver a lot of sonic adventures, thus making it Lyodra’s ‘safest’ album to date. This time around, Lyodra opts for a much more easy-listening experience, leaning heavily on pop conventionality as opposed to the risky paths that she once ventured into in the past (such as “Oe..Oe..Oe..”, “Sabda Rindu”, “Sang Dewi”, “Sana Sini Mau”, and “Jangan Pernah Kembali”). Such conventionality in Terkunci Di Kamu is perhaps most embodied in “Simpan Dulu Rindumu” and “Pintu Hati”—the songs are as breezy and comforting as Saturday morning.
Lyodra’s Terkunci Di Kamu is pretty as well as conventional. Not too deep and gut-wrenching, but not trivial and meritless either. Is Lyodra’s approach to Terkunci Di Kamu the right approach in the end? Honestly, what I can predict right now is a somewhat mixed result. Lyodra’s voice remains the album’s biggest appeal, but Terkunci Di Kamu might have a tough time attracting new fans, and its pop conventionality might not be the emotional catharsis that modern Indonesian music audiences are looking for right now. Nowadays, the public, especially the younger ones, seem to be too numb to listen to songs about youthful heartbreaks and hang-ups, and I worry that there is now a discrepancy between the pace at which Lyodra matures and the pace at which her audiences mature. After all, we now live in a world where two people can be of the same age, but living very different realities.
That being said, allow me to close this review by saying this: even when the world is on fire, we still need someone to carry the tradition of pop divas. And I am still very much rooting for Lyodra, as she is perhaps one of our very few real hopes that we have to keep that precious tradition alive. I also strongly believe that both convention and change can live side by side in our music landscape. Tastes are indeed subjective, but there is an objectively equal place for both traditional pop divas and genre-bending alternative bands. In this increasingly tough world, comfort is comfort—regardless of what the music sounds like.
All images are courtesy of Universal Music Indonesia.