It's been eight years since Paradise Bangkok Molam International Band released their last studio album Planet Lam, in 2016. This followed their debut album 21st Century Molam, released in 2014. In early December, the band soft-launched a vinyl version of their new album Arayalam on the Zudrangma Records label.
Lockdowns, travel bans and the social and economic disruption that followed Covid-19 took their toll on the entertainment industry, and while this led to delays in releasing new recordings, band leader and co-producer (with percussionist Chris Menist) DJ Maft Sai said in an interview last week that the band has been quietly recording lots of tracks (he plans to release more experiments from a backlog of recorded tracks as EPs later this year).
Maft Sai explained that the first album in 2014 introduced a "new sound" for the 21st century, rooted in Isan's molam music, and the second album was more experimental, with music derived from "our own Planet Lam". He added that "the sound on the new record is bigger, fuller… throughout the whole album.
"We've been living on our own planet and, in a sense, we have created a parallel universe to Isan. The root is still Isan but now we've created our own sound, on our own planet."
The band's five members are joined on the album by guests like veteran Pimjai Petchpalangjai on vocals, ponglang player Sirawiz Toingsahatam, sor player Chanon Chinnarach and pi player Somnuek Seangarun.
Pimjai Lam Plearn features the singer in a version of a song that Maft Sai used to spin at Isan Dancehall Nights, but "we twisted the lyrics and created a new version". Another track, Jai Dum, features drums and khaen played with a jazzy groove, while Psych Lam Kor, one of my favourites on the album, was inspired by Middle Eastern, Malay and Indonesian popular music. The linguistic playfulness of the title is intriguing -- does it mean a psych kiss on the neck?
Maft Sai said the writing and recording process meant that some songs went through various versions. See Saw Part 1 and Part 2, for instance, were initially inspired by the "electone molam groove" of the 1980s. "We started with a phin version, and then we tried a guitar version, before finally settling on a sor version, which we liked a lot."
Bonglang turns up to great effect on a song with another unusual title, Tam Phu Thai. As the DJ/producer explained: "We used ponglang with a Phu Thai melody, and it's not really a lam, so we called it Tam Phu Thai."
Kammao Phinprainn, the band's charismatic phin master and focal point of the band during live performances, has his own track, Bangkok Traffic Drama, and he appears in the centre of the album cover artwork, a cosmic woodcut by artist Chisanuphol Presanvirakitkool.
Two tracks that really stand out for me on the album are the stomping opener Zud Rang Ma, with its punk and electronica groove, and Don Sawai Lam Plearn, which showcases the khaen skills of Don Sawai (Kaewsombat), set to an Afrobeat-inspired backing.
Don Sawai is still going strong at 84. I saw him perform with members of Bangkok's oldest molam ensemble and Khana Suntharapirom performed molam glawn (poetic style lam) at Studio Lam this past Wednesday night and he was in fine form (there is a series on lam glawn at Studio Lam on Wednesday nights which readers might like to see. Check out the club's Facebook page).
Maft Sai said that the official launch of the album will be next month when it will be available in digital format. If you can't wait until then, vinyl copies are available at Zudrangma Records, Sukhumvit 51. It will be interesting to see the band take the album on the road. It's something we can look forward to in 2024.
John Clewley can be contacted at clewley.john@gmail.com.
