For the past six years Agung Mango has been carefully winding a sonic chrysalis. His debut album, IN BELLY WE TRUST, is an unfolding of his wings.
Like much of his earlier work, IN BELLY WE TRUST is buoyed by live instrumentation, this time with an even more defined and compelling atmosphere. Jazz drums, fluttering woodwind, and audio recordings from hometown Bali give the record a humid mood.
It’s a sign of the maturity that comes with a strong debut album, expressed through Agung Mango’s vocally; still smooth as always, but more rawly expressive. The pains of growth and self-discovery are etched on his wise and weary voice like knife marks notched against a tree. Introspective ballads sit comfortably side to side with silky RnB, or patient, pointed hip-hop, as on the laserlike ‘PEW PEW.’
When he needs to, Agung Mango can still shift into high energy mode. ‘THE MOTH PREFERS THE MOONS’ metamorphosises from hazy dream into peak-time festival mainstage mosh, as do fuzzy, psych rock guitars on the Paris Texas -esque ‘GUT.’
IN BELLY WE TRUST is a testament to Agung Mango’s dynamism. Taking cues from both his Indonesian and Italian heritage, scenes abroad but also at home with his Picked Last crew, it’s a living, breathing collage of six years of music creation – and hopefully, just the beginning of much more to come.
Words by Lindsay Riley