Dengue Fever Soar High with The Deepest Lake
Dengue Fever
The Deepest Lake
Tuk-Tuk, 2015
The part of me annoyed with how long it takes Dengue Fever to release a new collection of music is quickly mollified
by the part of me known as my ears, which appreciates just how great it is. ‘The Deepest Lake’ continues with the path of musical exploration Dengue Fever has chosen, Cambodian psychedelic tinged surf rock, but now steers further away from rock and feels decidedly more exotic.
With a strong emphasis on Eastern sounding melodies and more subtly and lightly interwoven rhythms, this more nuanced approach shows increasing depth and musical maturity.
Band founders, brothers, and main songwriters Ethan and Zac Holtzman are the unlikely fans and even more unlikely practioners of this art form, and now seem truly at home in their own skins. No longer imitating the distant sounds of their inspirations, this collection of songs sound and feel truly organic and the band takes big chances.
The majority of the songs are sung in Khmer, and vocalist, Chhom Nimol is a consistent bright spot on whom it easy to focus. But this band moves with a sinewy effortlessness as they lock into each other’s playing and follow one another.
“Tokay” is samba-esque number with mesmerizing and lilting keyboards. Nimols voice emotes with a yearning throughout. “Rom Say Sok” is sung in English and features vocals from both Holtzman and Nimol and feels like ’79 Devo may have been their muse. Driven and punkish with great keyboard/horn punctuations, this stand out track is gritty and builds on itself to a dizzying head of steam. “The Deepest Lake on the Planet” is deceptive as well. With a restrained dark jazz feel, this noir track has room to breathe and is positively cinematic. The counterpoint between the keys and guitar can seem like it’s own argument. Dense grooves help to build these numbers into epic constructs.
Pop with jazz and spices one can’t easily identify, this solves the problem of wanting something different. Dengue Fever have stepped into their own and definitely worth waiting for.
