Bernadya is an Indonesian singer-songwriter who released her debut album, ‘Sialnya, Hidup Harus Tetap Berjalan’ (‘Unfortunately, life must go on’) this summer. Born in 2004, Bernadya became known in 2016 when she participated in The Voice Kids Indonesia. In 2016, together with her sister, she formed the duo Celine & Nadia and, in 2022, she went solo.
Bernadya achieved some success in Indonesia with her debut single, ‘Apa Mungkin’ (‘it is possible’), an atmospheric folk-jazz ballad. She is a ballad singer first and foremost, and her hit ‘Satu Bulan’ (‘one month’) is driven by the sound of a piano, although the guitars on tracks like ‘Untungnya, Hidup Harus Tetap Berjalan’ (‘fortunately, life must go on’) and ‘Kata Mereka Ini Berlebihan’ (‘they say this is too much’) outline a soft country-pop sound.
Bernadya’s songs, which are mostly about heartbreak, using a melancholic and sad point of view, evoke the calm and pleasant – although harmless – style of Norah Jones or Diana Krall, and their greatest merit is that they are managing to connect with a global audience, being written in Indonesian.
Not one but two of Bernadya’s hits are currently appearing on Spotify’s global chart. ‘Satu Bulan’, her most popular song to date with 130 million streams, sits at number 48 on the chart, and ‘Untungnya, Hidup Harus Tetap Berjalan’ appears at number 116. ‘Kata Mereka Ini Berlebihan’ has also made it into the top 200 on the chart, among many others.
In terms of numbers, Bernadya’s success is concentrated mainly in Indonesia and Malaysia, according to Spotify data, but the streaming of all of his songs is equally astounding, to the point that Bernadya now has 18 million monthly listeners on the Swedish platform. Moreover, Bernadya’s presence in Spotify’s global ranking is no anecdote; his songs have been consolidated among the most listened to in the world for weeks. Has a star been born?
