On their first new material since 2018, Indonesian indie act Grrrl Gang put the jangling guitars and dreamy vocals of Alvvays in a blender with vintage Tame Impala psych-rock touches and yesteryear’s pop harmonies, resulting in the all-around lovely “Honey, Baby.” The Yogyakarta-based trio of Angee Sentana, Akbar Rumandung and Edo Alventa signed to London’s Damnably Records in 2019, and appeared poised for a Stateside breakout via SXSW 2020, though, of course, the pandemic had other plans.
But they’re bouncing back by performing at the digital 2021 festival and readying a new album, for which the warm ‘60s psychedelia of “Honey, Baby” bodes quite well. Vocalist and guitarist Sentana says the song is the story of a relationship, recalling, “I tried to reflect and express how sweet the relationship was to me at that time, despite knowing that it wasn’t going to be a walk in the park. I guess, what I was trying to say in this song was, ‘Hey, I am willing to go through this. Are you?’”