![\"\"](\"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/dengue_fever_ting_mong.jpg\")
Led by brothers Ethan and Zac Holtzman and fronted by the exquisite vocalist Chhom Nimol, Dengue Fever combines the traditional sound of Southeast Asia with Western pop values, and the result is enchanting. Across eight albums, Dengue Fever has managed to have it both ways: remaining uncompromising to their established musical vision while crafting wonderfully accessible, mesmerizing music.<\/p>\n
Ting Mong<\/i> is the group\u2019s (sixth? seventh? eighth?) latest<\/i> long player (there have been several EPs and a set of other artists\u2019 music curated by the band as well), and plays the Dengue Fever\u2019s strengths. Nimol sings exclusively in Khmer, but the old adage about music being the universal language is especially apt. The beauty of her vocals conveys the emotion quite effective. And the instrumental backing is sublime, subtle and inventive. Wholly free of gimmickry, the music on Ting Mong<\/i> is contemplative, dreamy and alluring.<\/p>\n
By its very nature, this music is exotic, almost otherworldly. But it\u2019s also connected enough to western musical conventions to feel warm and inviting. Listeners can luxuriate in the sonic landscape, or let Ting Mong<\/i> play in the background; it works equally well both ways. And the band isn\u2019t afraid to deviate ever-so-slightly from its established musical construct: Zac Holtzman takes the lead vocal for \u201cGreat on Paper,\u201d a tune that might remind some listeners a bit (but just<\/i> a bit) of Khurangbin.<\/p>\n
As fine as any title in Dengue Fever\u2019s back catalog certainly is, newcomers are encouraged to start in the here-and-now with Ting Mong<\/i>. If (as I suspect) you\u2019re won over by the group’s unique approach, you\u2019ll have a great deal of back catalog material to explore.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Led by brothers Ethan and Zac Holtzman and fronted by the exquisite vocalist Chhom Nimol, Dengue Fever combines the traditional sound of Southeast Asia with Western pop values, and the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":25888,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[49,51,65,73,76],"tags":[661],"class_list":["post-25887","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-new-release","category-pop","category-review","category-vinyl","category-world","tag-dengue-fever","cat-49-id","cat-51-id","cat-65-id","cat-73-id","cat-76-id","has_thumb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25887","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25887"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25887\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25889,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25887\/revisions\/25889"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25888"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25887"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25887"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25887"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}