After
surprising fans with his story-driven conceptual single “The Other Side”,
Bangkok-born singer-songwriter Phum Viphurit goes even deeper into the
world of his alter ego Paul Vibhavadi on “Balter Baby”, the second single from his
upcoming EP PAUL VIBHAVADI VOL. 1. Released to streaming platforms on October
9, 2024, this dance-oriented piece is Phum’s first instrumental-only track that
showcases another side of his musical tastes and capabilities. An animated
music video for “Balter Baby” by Shea Oracheski and James Bedggood based on
Phum’s concept will also debut on the official Phum Viphurit YouTube channel.
In terms of
narrative, “Balter Baby” picks up just before where “The Other Side” left off,
in which the lovable sloth Paul Vibhavadi is grappling with his newfound
adulation amongst a sloth-worshipping tribe he stumbled upon during his journey
in search of the magical forest of Himmapan. “I wanted to expand on a part of
the previous music video when it shows the tribe worshipping him, almost like
an Ari Aster, Midsommer-type dance,”
says Phum. “So it’s showing Paul in the trance of that, what he was feeling in
that dance sequence.” Intriguingly,
Phum opted to convey this chapter of Paul’s story via an instrumental track
with no vocals, once again pushing the boundaries of his music in the process.
“I’ve done instrumental-heavy music, but always with glimpses of my voice. This
one’s purely for people to dance to,” says Phum. “Honestly, if you go through
the last fifty of my liked Spotify songs, I would say 45 of them are
instrumental music. When I’m looking for inspiration, I try to write lyrics
over pre-existing instrumentals, and I wanted to deconstruct that method by,
‘Hey, what if I can capture someone’s attention or move their head along to
this three-minute house track that’s guitar-based with some synths?’ It was an
interesting challenge, but also fits within the theme of the story.” Regarding
the specific influences for “Balter Baby”, Phum says, “I listened to a lot of
Modjo, a dance group from the 2000s. I also listened to a lot of Seventies
Motown, funk and disco. But most of it was led by the visual, because I
directed the ‘The Other Side’ music video and was pretty heavily involved in
the animation process for the ‘Balter Baby’ video. So I was thinking of Paul’s
story and what particular soundtrack would suit this scene.” Indeed, the music
of “Balter Baby” perfectly complements the video that takes us into Paul’s mind
as his immersion into this new world that has embraced him sees him grooving
along like a retro dance video game character. The choice
of “Balter Baby” as a single also further emphasizes the boldness of Phum
Viphurit’s exploration on the PAUL
VIBHAVADI VOL. 1 EP, while still making sense within the context of the
project. “I felt like it was going to introduce a new house-inspired song like
‘The Other Side’, I needed a bit of a continuation before I break from that
tempo and texture, so ‘Balter Baby’ was the most natural selection to me,” he
says. “It’s like, ‘Hey, it’s not just a one-off thing.’ I’m playing with the
idea of trance, movement and motifs throughout the whole EP.” The end of
the “Balter Baby” video sees Paul Vibhavadi enclosed in a glowing orb as he
floats away from that tribe, and the audience is free to draw their own
conclusions – or look for more answers when the PAUL VIBHAVADI VOL. 1 drops on October 17. “I know it’s quite a
conceptual piece of work, and there’ll be many different interpretations of
it,” says Phum. “But I’m so excited to show my creativity and make people feel
something again with this next piece of work.”
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