LA no longer holds sway over the baddest girl sphere. As music becomes increasingly borderless, the Billboard charts are no longer dominated by Hollywood’s biggest names, but by artists emerging from South Korea, Japan and far beyond.

For Indonesians and Southeast Asians, this shift feels particularly significant. It has been some time since so many artists from the region have occupied space on the global stage, despite the richness of its musical landscape. Indonesia alone is home to more than 17,000 islands, each with its own languages, traditions and instruments, offering an almost endless vocabulary with which to reimagine Southeast Asian culture through a contemporary lens.

That evolution can be felt across the region’s music scene. no na, who made their debut last year with 88 Rising, have shared their debut album island girl today, a project rooted in the experiences of love, friendship and what it means to grow up as an island girl from an archipelago nation.

In conversation with 1883, no na discuss their creative process, life away from home in the US and the experience of becoming sisters.

How does it feel to release an album just a year after your debut?

Baila: It feels surreal to finally have people listen to it, beyond just the four of us, our producers and the 88 Rising team.

Esther: We poured blood, sweat and tears into this album. We spent nearly a year on it, maybe more. Some of the songs were recorded even before we recorded ‘Shoot’.

Shazfa and Christy: We are so excited because we saw a comment [online]. They’re really looking forward to this album.

I noticed you all also took part in writing some of the songs for the record. Would you mind telling us about it?

Esther: We have an amazing team at 88 Rising who brought in outside producers, but we also have strong in-house producers, engineers and songwriters. They helped write almost all the songs on the album, and thankfully they were very open to collaborating with us when we wanted to rearrange songs, distribute lines or change some lyrics.

It’s been only a year since your debut. What have you learnt about yourselves as artists within the past 12 months?

Baila: I think I have taken myself more seriously over the years, being in no na and developing the group (2:08). I just feel more focused now.

Esther: A big shift [that] I’ve noticed is that we’ve grown together. Vocally, we’re stronger. The album challenged us both vocally and dance-wise, and we pushed ourselves beyond the limits we thought we had. You can hear it in our songs. ‘Smooth’ and ‘Nick of Time’ are vocally demanding. ‘Work’ and ‘Rollerblade’ pushed us dance-wise.

I know Baila just said she’s taking herself more seriously, but most of the time, we’re pretty unserious.

I think our personalities translate into the album. We had so much fun recording it because when we enjoy ourselves and stay lighthearted, that comes through in our vocals. You can definitely hear a lot of playfulness and carefree spirit in the album.

Shazfa: Since we love every single song on the album, every track is [our] favourite.

Is there one song that stands out as your favourite on this album or means the most to you?

Baila: Mine is ‘Nick of Time’. A meaningful track for all of us. The song really defines our friendship and no na as a whole, which is our sisterhood. I think that song is a very special one. But my favourite changes all the time. Right now, because I was listening to it in the car, ‘Party in the +62’ takes the spot.

Shazfa: Meaningful for me would also be ‘Nick of Time’, but I can also mention ‘Island Girl’. The song really defines us as well. For my favourite, I would pick ‘Seafood Diet’. I listen to that kind of song on a daily basis. The track felt very personal to me.

Esther: I’d like to pick ‘Smooth’ as a very meaningful song. Other than ‘Falling in Love’, we have never actually released a pure love song. My favourite right now is ‘Party in the +62’.

What do you love to do in your free time? Living away from home must be hard, but at least you have each other.

Baila and Esther: Working together is one thing, but spending free time together is even better. Even a simple picnic works. We just ask each other, “What are you doing right now?” Nothing? Okay, let’s go. Or catch a movie. It is always fun with them, especially living together. We watch sinetron [Indonesian soap opera] together.

Shazfa: My favourite thing is living with them. So fun having these three girls around. Something always happens. We never have a camera on standby. There’s always something going on.

What hits the hardest about missing Indonesia?

Baila: Ketoprak. My dad actually outed me during our debut. He told everyone I went to this specific ketoprak stall, and people started showing up.

Shazfa: Cilok. A good snack and [serve it] spicy. Nasi padang too, but I really miss anything spicy. The spice here is different. I cannot find chilli as hot as the one back home.

Lastly, what would your dream concert be?

All: The dream concert would still be in Indonesia. We want a homecoming one. We’ve never had a concert there.

So, we really want to perform in our home country, but we also want to take our time because we want it to be special, not [just] casual, and when it happens, it would be something really big and intentional.

no na’s new album island girl is out now.

Interview Belinda Yohana