There’s something life-changing about Yogyakarta-based duo Stars and Rabbit, as even the first seconds of the new video for single “Any Day in the Park” make clear. An intergalactic rainbow pulls us toward a breathtaking starburst; rose-tinted clouds and shapes part to lead us to singer Elda Suryani, clad in pajamas and waking to bandmate Didit Saad’s carefree guitar lines. In her singular voice – sugar-sweet with a smoky edge – Suryani greets the day and sets her intention for it: “There is so much heart in the park.”
Saad says that he has “always attached a playfulness to rock and roll”, and that philosophy permeates every aspect of the landscape created for the video. Dreamlike collages of flowers, trees, and animals greet us as the Suryani revels in being surrounded by people, nature, and open space. She swims with the colorful silhouettes of aquatic life, watches over Saad’s shoulder as he surfs through the sky with guitar in hand, and narrates every sight she sees – eucalyptus, ice cream, rainbows – and each joyful move she makes as she explores the glorious microcosm around her. “Now you know my favorite day,” she sings, and it’s true – how can anything be more beautiful than a day in the park?
With surreal visuals both blissfully soft and grand and sounds as tremendous in scale as they are sweetly simple, Stars and Rabbit make the mundane miraculous. That is, as Saad notes, by design. “Wherever and whatever circumstances we are in,” he says of the sentiments behind the track, “sometimes all the comfort you need is space for your own thoughts.”
Out now in advance of upcoming album Rainbow Aisle, “Any Day in the Park” offers us a glimpse into the boundless imagination of Stars and Rabbit through the simple act of going outside. In doing so, it encourages its audience to take a breath and let our minds soar – right alongside Suryani and Saad on their turquoise rocket.
Rainbow Aisle comes out February 28 via Green Island Music.