ORIGIN
Surabaya, Indonesia
About Dewa 19
Although Dewa 19’s early downbeat, jazz-inflected sound found considerable success (their original name, fittingly, was Down Beat), 1995’s aptly titled Terbaik-Terbaik saw the Surabaya-bred lads become Indonesia’s premier rock group. The charging “Cukup Siti Nurbaya” encapsulates the pivot to harder-edged sonic territory, as well as to poetic lyricism. Despite changes to their line-up and, temporarily, to their name, the Dewa 19 moniker made a welcome return on 2006’s Republik Cinta, by which point they were bona fide Gen X icons.
