If Lunarin had to choose to deliver a message with the music, it would be that contrasting elements can and do work. The band's biggest breakthrough was perhaps to balance melodic female vocals with hard-hitting riffs and drumbeats, while at the same time, to indulge themselves in a myriad of styles reminiscent of art-rock and metal. Contradiction should have been the band's moniker. Described by music journalist Sujin Thomas as "Tori Amos on acid", the band's brand of dark and heavy music has been described as "Tool meets Kate Bush"; "Tori Amos fronts A Perfect Circle" and has been likened to the dark soundscapes of 4AD bands by music critics and radio deejays.
Indeed, it is not difficult to see why the music of Lunarin has evoked extreme reactions from listeners. The music has been capable of arousing a deep sense of anger and bitterness in naysayers. It has also been capable of evoking great feelings of sadness and ambivalence in the lovers and supporters of the music. Given the manner in which the songs are written and delivered, it is impossible to be neutral about Lunarin - the songs take you hostage, sometimes even when you don't want to.
The members that make up the band are the most unlikely of trio to create an outfit of this nature – Linda Ong (bass player, singer), Loo Eng Teck (drummer) and Ho Kah Wye (guitar player) are working professionals, members of the myriad of plebeians that make up the working class of our economy, the backbone that supports the upper strata of the obscenely rich and the lower strata of the very poor. In an ideal world, professionals like them do not have artistic voices. But the world is not perfect. And perhaps it is the very essence of how the world is not how it should be that has motivated the very workings of Lunarin and the songs that the band writes.
Embracing contradiction and challenging norms however, comes with a price. Critics have questioned the band's machinations, both in their effort in releasing a concept album (their debut album, "The Chrysalis") as well as their obtuse references to mythology and the occult. Supporters however, have embraced the band's ideology that all songs come from the Muse and that the Chrysalis was intended to be a concept album, not because the band willed it to be so, but because it was always meant to be.
It is impossible to pass judgment on the band and its music from hearsay. You will have to listen to the band and decide for yourself.
