Apart from the show's male winner Rangsan "Songkran" Panyaruen, The Voice Thailand Season 2 gave us a handful of female vocalists who'd showed strong potential including Violette Wautier and Rapeeporn "Lukpeach" Tantragoon. The former, as you may well be aware, has just started self-releasing her own music to wide acclaim. Lukpeach, on the other hand, found herself snug under the wing of Malama Collective, a co-op record label founded by Bangkok-based indie-music streaming platform Fungjai.
Lukpeach: Judge Me If You Can EP
And while Violette has gone down the moody electro-pop route, Lukpeach has kept her love for pop-leaning R&B largely intact. (After all, it was her soulful rendition of Andrea Suarez's 90s pop ballad Sob Ta that landed her a spot on coach Jennifer Kim's team during the blind auditions.) Listening to her 2017 self-titled EP, one could almost pinpoint the musical influences that have shaped her as an artist -- from Sade's quiet storm to Tom Misch's and Honne's modern interpretations of R&B.
Her follow-up EP, Judge Me If You Can, further showcases that wide-eyed blend of jazz, soul and R&B with a new English-language single, Judge, alongside its studio live session as well as a live rework of electric.neon.lamp's Nang Rong. The collection's centrepiece, Judge, finds the pop upstart pleading over subdued electric guitars: "So please don't hate me … Come a lil' closer/ Come a lil' closer/ Gotta know me know you."
Apart from the addition of horns, the track's studio live version stays faithful to the original. And while not yet a seasoned vocalist, Lukpeach more than holds her own here when it comes to singing live. Better still is the "rearranged" treatment of anthemic indie jam Nang Rong, which has been transformed into a jazzy, horn-inflected mid-tempo ballad.
Given its short length of just 13 minutes, Judge Me If You Can feels more like an extended single rather than an EP. Technicalities aside, Lukpeach has shown that she's as much of a singer as she is a songwriter. Her ability to pen lyrics in both Thai and English gives her the something extra needed to push her music a little further. There's also a glimpse of self-confidence that didn't necessarily come across on her previous release, but is on full display here. A sign of (more) good things to come.
THE PLAYLIST
Leah Dou / A Swim In The Love That You Give Me
Although she made her first foray into music way back in 2011, it wasn't until five years later that Leah Dou was finally recognised for her talent in her native China. Born to legendary Chinese artists Dou Wei and Faye Wong, the winner of two QQ Music Awards (New Female Artist of the Year and Most Searched Artist of the Year) is the genius behind the avant-pop brilliance of stellar records like Stone Café and Kids Only. Her latest cut, A Swim In The Love That You Give Me, sees Dou embracing the experimental spirit of her last single, Island Love, all the while plunging deeper into the pool of atmospheric samples -- temple bells and static noise here, whooshes and what sounds like a Chinese dizi flute there. In the windswept backdrop, a cassette tape playing faint guitars stops short, intensifying the trip-hop soundscape punctuated by cryptic whispers of "love is all that's there" and "passive silence diamonds". Sonically complex and textured, this genre-defying gem deserves to be heard everywhere.
The Marías (Feat Triathalon) / Drip
The LA indie quintet joins forces with emerging New York trio Triathalon on Drip, a funky cut that combines the psychedelic soul inclination of the former with the lo-fi R&B smoothness of the latter. "Got me love but it's tough, it's uncomfortable," Maria begins in the opening verse, her whispery vocals matching those of Triathalon's Chad Chilton, who chimes in during the song's second half with a counter-argument: "I wanna make it now/ Please don't act like you ain't freaking out." A fine example of two different bands from two different coasts coming together as one.
Patrick Watson, Safia Nolin / Mélancolie
Mélancolie is a collaboration between Canadian singer-songwriter Patrick Watson and Québécois singer Safia Nolin. The gorgeous French track arrives after Melody Noir, and once again finds Watson in his element as he blends his signature pared-down composition with subtle electronic flourishes. "Je me lève le matin/ Un cafe dans ma main/ Et c'est ben gris dehors," the pair open in unison. "Je lis les nouvelles/ Ça m'énerve/ Toujours la fin du monde." Fed up by all the bleak news, they decide to go back to bed where there's no need for a fake smile -- where they feel fine hidden under the sound of the rain, underneath the melancholy ("en dessous de la mélancolie").
Nicki Minaj (Feat Lil Wayne) / Good Form
Indomitable sass queen Nicki Minaj has recruited Lil Wayne to help out with a remix of Good Form, a breathless twerk anthem that appears on her latest release, Queen. Even though labelled a "remix", the track remains largely the same as the original save for an additional verse supplied by Minaj's rap mentor. "Everybody got the juice without a glass to pour it/ I want my cake and eat it, too, and after that, I'm starving," Lil Wayne raps in a flow that's more laid-back than his signature staccato style.
The Parkinson / Pai Thur
Although the strength of Thai pop-soul trio The Parkinson is often credited to the soulful vocals of its frontman, Nipat "Karn" Kamjornpreecha, we sometimes overlook the fact that he's also a top-shelf guitarist. Here, Karn's showing off his shredding skills on their latest cut, Pai Thur (Just Go), a heart-rending torch song built upon blues and jazz arrangements. "Is that it, then? Is that all you ever wanted?" he sings over his own piercing guitar riffs. "Though a little traumatised, I'll be fine on my own/ Just go on, be with him/ Don't you mind me."
