In 2014, the indie band GAND from Penang, Malaysia, recorded their songs and adopted a laid-back approach by selling homemade CDs in their local area. Despite spending two years creating and rehearsing their songs, they didn’t have much enthusiasm for promoting them, perhaps due to low expectations of the local environment, feeling content to let interested people appreciate their music.

Their debut release in 2014, titled “The First 凸 of 2014” consisted of four tracks, each documenting significant events in Malaysian politics from the early 2000s. “Murderer” was inspired by the 2006 murder of Mongolian model Altantuya Shaariibuu in Malaysia, which implicated then-Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Najib Razak in a scandal involving commissions for the purchase of submarines by the Ministry of Defense. Despite the unresolved nature of the case, Najib later became Malaysia’s sixth prime minister in 2009.

“Seance” was based on another political scandal, the case of Teoh Beng Hock, an aide to Selangor state assemblyman Ean Yong Hian Wah, who was found dead on the rooftop of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission’s office building in 2009, after being brought in for questioning regarding a constituency allocation issue.

“Taboo” depicted the 1969 racial riots in Malaysia, with a focus on the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) using the riots as a shield whenever sensitive issues were raised, intimidating dissenting voices into silence. The song criticized this behavior, arguing that healing historical wounds requires open discussion and acknowledgment.

“The First 凸 of 2014” was the lightest track among the four, portraying the frustration and powerlessness of the masses in the aftermath of the 2013 general election, where despite several large-scale protests, the ruling party unexpectedly retained a slim majority. The song depicted a scenario of self-deprecation, reflecting the inner turmoil and uncertainty about the future.

GAND’s music style leaned heavily towards rock and psychedelia, with each of the four tracks featuring strong, repetitive rhythms on drums and bass to engage listeners’ toes, accompanied by haunting electric guitar melodies and a hypnotic electronic ambiance to captivate the audience. With two lead vocalists alternating between low murmurs and powerful screams, the songs evoked a range of emotions in the listeners.

Looking back after a decade, it felt regrettable that such unique works had not reached a wider audience. Therefore, the decision was made to re-release the recordings using the original raw files from 2014, remixed for a more professional presentation, with the hope of introducing them to a broader audience.

To coincide with the physical release anniversary of 2014, GAND launched a commemorative package including a commemorative T-shirt, a digital download card (for 24-bit lossless high-definition audio files and MP3), and a 10% discount voucher for their next physical album.