Indonesian Tracks To Add To Your Playlist Right Now

Men’s Folio curates a cross-strait spectrum of sound that captures what the music scene next door feels like today.

By Asha Farisha

August 06, 2025

Malaysians have always carried a soft spot for Indonesian music. This rings especially true for those raised in Malay-speaking communities, where the language feels like a sibling to our own, and the drift into songs from the country next door has always felt like recognising a voice that mirrors yours. It takes little effort to understand, which is why even the most unintentional scroll through a local playlist often leads naturally, almost instinctively, to Indonesia.

Because of that closeness, these sounds have never felt foreign to many Malay youths. From the very beginning, our love for music from across the strait has lived side by side with our introduction to Hollywood. Most of us were singing along to Rossa and Irwansyah around the same time we were discovering Justin Bieber or nodding along to Avril Lavigne.

Family karaoke nights hosted by the aunties were choreographed to the voices of Hetty Koes Endang and Mas Idayu, while school days were accompanied by the heartbreak anthems of Nidji, Dewa 19, and Sheila On 7 — often tucked into the same playlists as Oasis, Guns N’ Roses, or The Smiths. These singers have grown up with us, inseparable from our understanding of what music could be.

And while the classics still hold a sacred space in our hearts, what is growing up without discovering something new? In recent years, a fresh wave of Indonesian artists has begun to define their own version of what comes next. Raised on the romantic lyricism and danceable beats of home, and shaped by a digital world that hands them global references at their fingertips, these artists are blending genres, perspectives, and stories in ways that feel both rooted and entirely of this moment.

To spotlight what’s next, and in the spirit of championing the ones who might one day become classics themselves, Men’s Folio rounds up a playlist of Indonesian tracks to add to your rotation. Spanning genres and moods, there’s something here for everyone, wherever your tastes might fall.