Dive into a world of the drawl of everyday with Girl and Her Bad Mood's debut full-length album Pop Songs, Sad World. The 12 tracks plunge into the mundane routine of getting up, going to work, coming home, going to sleep, and getting up to repeat the cycle all over again.
The quintet have made a relatable album that fuses their signature alternative pop sound with the album's themes that explore quarter-life panic, heartbreak, fear of change, flashes of joy, and that feeling of being totally lost, making the album the perfect project to resonate with fans who might be tackling those challenges in their life.
Guitarist and vocalist Bima Geraldi talks about the conceptualisation of the album name and the part each song played, saying, "Most of the songs ended up orbiting sadness in some way. Sure, there are some that are happy, falling-in-love songs, and the vibes are more positive. But the majority is us digging into the sadness we’ve been carrying. Pop Songs comes from one of the track titles and also because, sonically, we wanted the record to lean more pop. So Pop Songs, Sad World becomes a collection of pop songs made to accompany our listeners’ sadness.”
A few songs on the setlist were released as pre-release singles including 'Chani, I Believe', 'Loves Hates Loves', and 'Heals' appeared as singles, 'while Forced A Smile (I Will Always)' got a lyric visualizer release on 2 September. The band also reveals that the influence behind the overall sound of the album came from Japanese bands such as Luby Sparks, Nav Katze, Mass of the Fermenting Dregs, Homecomings, Laura Day Romance, and For Tracy Hyde.
Vocalist and bassist Jane Maura talks about how it felt to step inward for this album and take a page from their own book to inspire the experiences that each track details, saying, "Broadly, the songs are about the restlessness of being our age, 25 or so—what people call a quarter-life crisis. The worries range from romance to not knowing where life is heading."
The band—consisting of Bima Geraldi, Jane Maura, guitarist Daffa Hanafi, drummer Danang Seloaji, and synth player Handy Wandhawa—met during university, bonding over their shared love for music to create Girl and Her Bad Mood. However, with this album, they detail how after graduation, life got serious with the commitments they had to make as part of stepping into adulthood, which ultimately helped inspire Pop Songs, Sad World.
Bima details the impact that moving on to a new phase of life had on them, saying, "It really influenced us. Some of us are far from home, supporting ourselves, maybe even family. That weight shows up in the songs. We were more willing to explore new sounds and moods we hadn’t used before. As a lyricist, I also feel the writing is sharper and easier for people to digest.”
Through this album, Girl and Her Bad Mood aim to provide some sort of refuge to their listeners, as they explain, "We want this album to be something people can return to during their own confusing phases. Maybe one day they’ll think, ‘Back when I was going through that, GAHBM was there.’" Jane echoes, “We hope these songs can sit with anyone going through the same life stage we are."
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