Raditori and the fairy tale of the God of Heaven into a rock album

Rock Raditori - a rock band consisting of very young people - released the album Small Universe inspired by the Vietnamese fairy tale God of the Sky.

The 4-member band Raditori pursues alternative rock - Photo: NVCC

Raditori pursues the alternative rock genre with the freedom and diversity of emotions it brings. The band has performed at Homeland Artists, Yoko Cafe, Havana Club... or big venues such as HOI, Rock Fest...

After the album One Person three years ago, this band has just released their second studio album called Small Universe .

We want listeners to remember our works as a separate space where individuals can freely contemplate, explore and find their own special meanings.

Raditori

RADITORI - WONDER (Guitar Playthrough)

From The People

Tran Duc Nguyen, composer and lead vocalist of the band, said that when he was still living in his hometown of Dong Thap , he was attracted by the vibrant atmosphere of cultural activities in Ho Chi Minh City. The active senior bands, along with the cultural programs for students there, made Nguyen dream of forming a band to perform his own compositions.

Raditori was originally called Radio Story (2018), founded by Tran Duc Nguyen and his fellow musicians at the university. At that time, the band released singles such as Gia, Balo, and Roi .

After a period of member shuffle, Raditori now has 4 members: Nguyen, Duc (production, lead guitar), Chuong (drums), Minh (bass).

In 2021, Raditori released their debut album The People . The album's title is a reference to the group's original name, Radio Story, which roughly translates to "the story of the radio".

The radio is a device that broadcasts other people's information and stories without ever broadcasting its own. The band is the one telling those stories.

The people at that time were not yet clearly a complete concept album. However, immersing in that world still felt both familiar and strange. The audience faced themselves, embraced those emotions and healed themselves.

When listening to the album, some people might be surprised that the lyrics, which seem very old, were written by a young person born in 1997.

Small Universe album cover

And then step into the small Universe

Three years after The Humans , Raditori released The Little Universe - a metaphor for the chaotic thoughts in the extremely complex human mind, but no less mysterious than the vast universe out there.

The album consists of 10 songs, a mix of many musical genres combined with rock: Wild Animals (tango), How to Do (ballad), Watching the Moon (Vietnamese folk music)... There is a spirit of freedom, not afraid of difficulties (in Running ), finding oneself ( Starlight, Missing, How to Do, Soi ), loneliness and love for fellow human beings ( Wild Animals ). The small universe is actually a vast universe, of each person.

But as Duc Nguyen said, Raditori's music sometimes does not clearly distinguish between genres, as long as it leads to the right emotion that the artist is going for. For example, the song Ky Quan has mathrock, funky, Nu metal, blues, drum hiphop, even chamber music when using harp to create a dreamy feeling...

Or like "Watching the Moon ", a song praising the national spirit but only using the sound of the drum set as a national instrument, the rest uses guitar, bass and drum.

Duc Nguyen shared that the artwork idea was inspired by the Vietnamese fairy tale of the God of Heaven. The series of artworks in order recounts the journey from the creation of the world by the god to the journey of human development.

Raditori Band - Photo: NVCC

Because humans have so many ambitions and desires, they refuse to be confined in a world that has been framed according to the ideals of the gods. They decide to take control of their destiny.

In the end, humans themselves become the new gods of the world, "spreading" their ideals and creations across the planet. A new beginning for the cycle to begin again.

In this album, Raditori has shown more continuity and order. The 10 songs are arranged in order, with the artwork attached, so that the album's concept can be better understood.

"I hope that the audience will receive the album as a separate space - a place where individual listeners can freely contemplate, explore and find their own special meanings" - Duc Nguyen said.

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/raditori-va-co-tich-than-tru-troi-vao-album-nhac-rock-20241112101756113.htm