After more than two decades sharing the stage, as background singer for The Upstairs, co-vocalist of Goodnight Electric, and vocalist or Bite, Rebecca Theodora is now ready to face the spotlight as a solo artist — marked by the release of «Malaise» as her first single. First written in 2016, undergoing lyric changes in 2017, and a new arrangement finalised when the global pandemic broke out, “Malaise” embodies Rebecca’s musical sensibilities that have continued to develop over the years.
Rebecca originally wrote “Malaise” for Bite. However, because Bite was no longer active, this song had been buried for a long time. «During the pandemic I just thought, instead of going crazy and doing nothing, it’s better to work. That’s why I revisited the old material. «So the foundation of the arrangement and atmosphere of this song is purely my own,» recalls Rebecca.
Rebecca admits that the lyrics of the song «Malaise» are about the conversation that occurs between herself and her brain when she experiences a panic attack. She explained, «The inspiration came from an incident that I experienced one Monday at 3 – 7 in the morning. I tried to express or tell the chaos, fear and psychosomatics I felt at that time through this song».
«Even though it might not be the same and people can’t really imagine it, how sweet it will be when it becomes a song, other people can actually enjoy it or even entertain other people,» she continued.
In order to achieve this goal, Rebecca then invited Baldi Calvianca and Benedict Pardede from the music collective Gentle Tuesday to become producers. The result is a chilling electronic number that brings to mind the three-way collaborations of Julee Cruise, Angelo Badalamenti, and David Lynch or the releases of the Italians Do It Better record label.
Gentle Tuesday then decided to make Rebecca Theodora’s «Malaise» the first release on their newly founded record label. Regarding this decision, Gentle Tuesday explained: «Rebecca has a strong musical character, she has her own color. Whether it’s attached to The Upstairs, Goodnight Electric, or Bite, Rebecca is still Rebecca. It’s exciting and challenging at the same time, because she can take us into musical territories that we’ve never reached before.”
«Malaise» presented by Rebecca Theodora can be heard via the Gentle Tuesday Recordings Bandcamp account, and on all other digital music streaming services accompanied by a remix version from Aryo Adhianto aka A Fine Tuning Creation. The single’s cover design was done by artist/photographer Moses Sihombing, who is also a member of Gentle Tuesday and has created covers for, among others, Swellow and Avhath.
Bunka Wave 