Paradise Bangkok teases new album with experimental dub molam track
The future sound of Isaan.
It's been an exciting time for molam lately. On top of plenty of international exposure, we're now seing some cool modern interpretations of this rhythmic brand of Isaan folk music.
Last week it was molam-meets-reggae courtesy of Srirajah Rockers teaming up with Isaan soul singer Rasmee Wayrana; now it's the turn of The Paradise Bangkok Molam International Band to take things even further with a dub molam collaboration with British dub engineer Nick Manasseh.
Fresh from an extensive European tour, which included a slot at Glastonbury Festival and a stint before the cameras on Boiler Room, the band are now readying the release of their second album, Planet Lam, with a launch party set for Rockademy on Oct 21.
"Exit Planet Lam (Dub Mix)" is one of the first tastes from the new album, and it's an intriguing take on the traditional molam sound. In contrast to the band's notoriously frantic live show, the track sees the band's khaen and phin-led sound stretched out and slowed down over an 11-minute playing time.
It's certainly a minimal affair, but we love that as the song progresses you hear the traditional Northeastern Thai instrumentation blended smoothly with more colourful electronic sounds.
We're also excited about what it means for the direction of Planet Lam. Speaking to band ringleader Maft Sai recently, we were told, “It will be more electronic, experimental and spaced-out, influenced by the different sounds that have passed through Studio Lam.” That means we can expect the band's molam sound fleshed out with the addition of drum machine, synthesizers and other new effects.
"Exit Planet Lam (Dub Mix)" will appear on the 10-track version of the new album, joined by a "normal" version of the track. Check out this mellow dub molam song below:
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