Local singer-songwriter Liyana Fizi is having a lot of fun making music. By Adrian Yap CK

Singer-songwriter Liyana Fizi has every reason to be upbeat these days. There’s been a genuine buzz around her solo career, since Estrella dissolved, culminating in some fairly high-profile shows, including a gig in Melbourne. Two years after she decided to go solo, she’s releasing ‘Between the Lines’ an effort that fairly captures all she’s experienced.

Recorded in Bandung, Indonesia, the album is full of charming and breezy acoustic-based ditties, veering between the more adult spectrum of twee pop to the less despairing side of bossanova. ‘The recording process was a blast. We spent two weeks in Aru Studio which is in the heart of Bandung, and emerged with ten songs successfully recorded,’ Liyana reveals. This was completed with the aid of her session/backing band consisting producer/guitarist Izaad Amir, bassist Firdaus Zulkeple and drummer Ruviyamin Ruslan, as well as her sound engineer Syafiq Yaacob.

The record’s brisk, fluffy vibe can be attributed to her band, which keeps things simple, never playing more notes than necessary, although Fizi confesses that there was some ‘imported’ help as well, with members of local Bandung folk/jazz band 4Peniti contributing some violin, cello and double bass session work on a few tracks. The result is at times breathtaking, with single ‘Light Writing’ leading the pack with its catchy bossa-like shuffle rhythm, breezy melody and sparse but gorgeous instrumentation spicing up the track lusciously. In a sense it’s a track straight out of the Estrella handbook, a fact that Fizi is not denying. ‘I was one of the songwriters for Estrella and I sang in the band/ played rhythm guitar, so that would explain the similarities in the vocals, mood of the songs, or song stylings.’

Yet there are subtle changes. Some features remain the same but there is a reflective side emerging, on more intimate tracks such as the absolutely dazzling ballad ‘Blindfold’. ‘In my opinion I think songwriters/musicians in general need to have a level of creativity to play or create music. That creativity comes from the heart, the soul,’ she notes wistfully.

When asked if there was any song out there she wished she had written, she immediately turned to one of the finest – ‘Across the Universe’ (by The Beatles) – saying, ‘because it’s such a wonderful song and is one of my favourites.’ The reference is certainly apt given that a major clog of the Lennon/McCartney partnership has always been the melodic interplay between Paul’s more hopeful overtures and John’s more cynical, bittersweet views. And while it may be absolutely foolhardy to compare Fizi’s songwriting to that legendary partnership, on a larger thematic whole, the sentiments remain the same in that she allows equal airspace for both her emotionally pensive and head-bobbing optimistic side. It is this songwriting intuition that sets her apart from some of her peers. While many guitar-totting troubadours prefer to write their thoughts within the emotional chaos, trying to make sense of it then, there is a sense that Fizi prefers to write at the aftermath, highlighting a sense of hope without belittling her experiences. ‘As far as songwriting tone goes, I think I have matured a little from my past work with Estrella with the new material.’

But while the album is clearly a testament to her maturity and brilliance as a songwriter, in many ways, it also represents a personal triumph of sorts, given that circumstances surrounding the demise of Estrella were largely external, and came at a time when the band was genuinely starting to go places. ‘I didn’t exactly plan on leaving the band. After completing a two-year contract with indie label Laguna Music, Estrella was supposed to simply continue as an unsigned band,’ she shares, before rather confoundedly adding, ‘However due to unforeseen circumstances with the label, I am unable to keep the band name.’ Despite that major setback in her music sojourn, she was determined not to let obstacles tie her or her guitar down so she continued to write. ‘It is a decision that has worked really well in my benefit. Change is good.’

And the change has certainly refined her even more as an artist, adding an aged glint to an already proficient sonic arsenal. Here’s an artist who’s put in her shifts and is now sitting at the summit of her creativity as a songwriter and loving every minute of it. ‘Tragedy happens in a wonderful time,’ she sings on ‘Light Writing’. Tragedies may have happened but it’s certainly that ‘wonderful’ time again – ‘I wouldn’t change a single thing. I am who I am today, because of that journey and I am very grateful for it.’

Catch Liyana Fizi at No Black Tie on Feb 6. For more info on her upcoming shows as well as ‘Between the Lines’, visit www.liyanafizi.com.