Malaysian indie game studio Persona Theory Games and Indonesian ethnic music fusion group SambaSunda have teamed up to bring fans Song of Mothers, an original music video inspired by traditional and modern sounds.
The Song of Mothers music video was first showcased on July 17th, 2022 at Safe&Sound, an online music festival that celebrates music and audio in games.
Song of Mothers was originally created for the game Kabaret, featuring lyrics written by game director and Persona Theory Games co-founder Buddy Anwardi, as well as music from SambaSunda leader Hirdzan Maulana R. The song’s performance and musical production combines contemporary instruments with traditional Indonesian instruments such as the gamelan.
The song tells the story of the difficult relationship between Kabaret’s protagonist, Jebat, and his mother, whose expectations he struggles to break free from. The song blends mystery, horror and fantasy into an experience that captures what Kabaret is all about – a fantasy folklore narrative that explores the darkness that lies between humanity, myth, and reality.
What is Kabaret?
Kabaret is a dark fantasy game told from the perspective of Jebat, a cursed boy who has been uprooted from his small town and thrust to a mystical, violent, and unforgiving monster realm. While being led astray and feeling lonely in a place of unfathomable cruelty, Jebat confronts monsters both supernatual and human in the domain of Kabaret.
Kabaret explores a variety of renowned Southeast Asian folklore and legends, including the well-known myth of the Alam Bunian. Of course, there are also many other mythical mysteries for players to discover as they follow the protagonist Jebat on his journey.
The game is funded by WINGS Interactive, an indie gaming fund that strives to promote diversity in gaming. It has also been featured on the XBox Extended Showcase’s ID@Xbox segment, an indie game showcase that features developers from all over the world.
While Kabaret is still in development, with plans to release on Steam, Epic and Xbox consoles, eager fans can now check out an early demo of the game on Steam.
Meet SambaSunda
SambaSunda is an Indonesian ethnic music fusion group based in Bandung, the capital and cultural center of Sundanese culture in West Java, Indonesia. Helmed by Hirdzan Maulana R, SambaSunda brings together an array of instruments and influences to create a new kind of gamelan orchestra.
While Kabaret is SambaSunda’s first experience in producing and creating music for games, they have worked closely with Persona Theory Games to create a shared interest and vision for the game’s music, resulting in amazing tracks such as Song of Mothers.
About Persona Theory Games
Persona Theory Games is an indie narrative games studio based in Malaysia. Their mission is to use interactive experiences to showcase compelling Southeast Asian stories to a worldwide audience.
Since being established in 2017, the studio has made numerous achievements over the years in both films and games, such as:
- Releasing the studio’s first game, Fires at Midnight, amidst a global pandemic in 2020. The highly acclaimed visual novel is available on Steam and the Epic Games Store.
- Making 2 films in collaboration with Pusaka, a Malaysian non-profit that supports traditional performance arts. The first of these films was Alam (Tak) Nyata, a story that showcases the Red Horse Kuda Kepang family, and the second being Angin Keturunan, which features the Cahaya Matahari Mak Yong family. The films were supported by Obscura Festival and the US Embassy of Malaysia, respectively.
- Creating a 2D world for Revive Arcade Festival, a digital concert that took place during the MCO lockdown.
- Being featured on IGN, Summer Games Fest, Xbox Showcase, Games for Change, Obscura Festival, and much more.
We’d like to congratulate both Persona Theory Games and SambaSunda on this amazing achievement, and we can’t wait to see what’s next!
Get the latest updates on Kabaret and other projects by following Persona Theory Games:
- Website: https://personatheory.com
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/personatheorymy
- Instagram https://www.instagram.com/personatheory/
- Facebook https://www.facebook.com/personatheory
- TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@personatheorymy
Follow SambaSunda on their socials here:
- Youtube @sambasunda indonesia
- Instagram @SambaSunda
- Facebook @Sambasunda
