Indonesia has a new girl group taking its sound far beyond its borders. Baila, Christy, Esther, and Shaz, the four members of no na, have just unveiled their debut album, island girl, via 88rising, introducing the world to their self-defined Island Pop. Blending R&B, dangdut, and synth-funk with influences from their homeland, the fifteen-track project arrives alongside speaker freaker the long song, an ambitious short film shot across Jakarta and Yogyakarta that brings their cultural identity to life.
With hundreds of millions of streams already behind them, no na are only getting started. “We hope that as we grow, we can also help make more space for Indonesian creatives globally,” they tell us, reflecting on the responsibility and excitement of representing their country on an international stage. We caught up with the four artists to discuss their whirlwind first year, the creative differences that bring them together, their connection to Indonesia, and the dreams they are determined to turn into reality.
First of all, how are you all doing? Where are you answering our questions from, and what have you been up to since island girl came out?
Christy: We’re doing great! We’re answering from Jakarta. Ever since island girl came out, it’s honestly been a bit of a whirlwind. We’ve been trying to process the fact that the album is finally out. It’s been really nice seeing our fans enjoy these songs as much as we do.
How does it feel to finally have the album out in the world?
Esther: Very surreal. We spent so much time building the world around island girl, so for a long time it felt like this thing that only existed between us and the team who worked on it. Now people have their own favourite songs, lyrics, and interpretations. That’s probably the nicest part — it doesn’t feel like it belongs only to us anymore.
It’s been just over a year since you released your first single. Does the beginning of no na already feel far away?
Baila: In some ways, yes. So much has happened in such a short amount of time that it sometimes feels like we’ve been doing this for much longer than a year. But we also remember the beginning really clearly — the first release, the first time people started discovering us, figuring out who no na even was. We’ve grown a lot since then, but we still feel very much at the beginning.
Just before the album arrived, you released speaker freaker the long song, an almost fifteen-minute journey filmed across Jakarta and Yogyakarta. One of the comments underneath reads: “The way these ladies represent Indonesia… So creative and stunning!!! I am getting emotional. A proud Indonesian girlie over here!” What goes through your mind when you read something like that?
Shaz: It’s really emotional for us too. With speaker freaker, we wanted to show Indonesia in a way that felt very natural to us — not like we were trying to explain the country to people, but just letting them enter our world for a little bit. When another Indonesian watches it and feels proud, or recognises the little things in it, that means a lot. Especially because those details might look ordinary to us, but together they’re part of what makes home feel like home.
I’m also curious about how growing up there has shaped you individually. How much of the way you understand music and creativity comes from where you’re from?
Esther: A lot, even subconsciously. Growing up in Indonesia means being surrounded by so many different sounds and references at once. You can grow up listening to Indonesian pop, dangdut, traditional music, Western pop, R&B, and K-pop — all of it exists in the same space. There’s also something very visual and expressive about Indonesia — the colours, the food, the streets, the way people dress, the humour, the chaos. All of that shapes how we approach creativity, even when we’re not directly referencing it.
You’ve created your own term, “Island Pop”, for the sound of no na. When does a song feel like Island Pop to you?
Christy: A song feels like Island Pop when it has that sense of freedom, rhythm, and warmth, and feels rooted in who we are. For us, it’s global pop through no na’s perspective.
Songs like rollerblade and work have already passed fifteen million streams on Spotify. Does it give you a bit of vertigo to think that millions of people around the world are listening to something you created?
Baila: Definitely. Fifteen million is such an astronomical number that it’s almost impossible to understand. It becomes real when we meet someone somewhere far from home and they know the lyrics, or they tell us which song is their favourite. Those are the moments when we think, “How did this song travel all the way to you?” That part still feels crazy.
There are four of you and, naturally, four different personalities. Do you tend to agree on creative decisions, or is there a lot of debate behind the scenes?
Esther: We all have pretty different instincts and personalities, so naturally we notice different things. An idea usually becomes stronger after all four of us have had something to say about it. Sometimes we agree immediately, sometimes we have to meet somewhere in the middle, and sometimes one person is really passionate about an idea and everyone else trusts them.
And who usually makes everyone laugh when things get stressful?
Baila: Christy — she’s the jokester of the group. A lot of the time, she’s not even trying to be funny. She’ll say something serious, and suddenly everyone is laughing. Her unintentionally funny moments are the best ones.
This has been a huge year for no na. What’s been your biggest “Is this actually happening?” moment so far?
Shaz: Our surprise appearance at our album launch party in Jakarta. Seeing that many people come out to celebrate the album with us was really overwhelming in the best way. We had spent so much time making this project privately, and suddenly we were in a room full of people who already had their own connection to it.
And what haven’t you achieved yet that you really, really want to?
Baila: Touring! We’ve been saying we want to tour for the longest time, so hopefully next year. Our favourite part of all of this is performing and meeting our Orchids. Nothing compares to standing in front of people who know the songs and hearing them sing them back to you.
Finally, when you picture no na a few years from now, what do you see?
Esther: We want to be performing, making more music, collaborating with people we admire, and continuing to build the world around no na. We hope that as we grow, we can also help make more space for Indonesian creatives globally. There are so many incredible people here making music, fashion, art, film, and so much more. We’d love for no na to be one small part of showing how much creativity is coming out of Indonesia.
