Dengue Fever, whose exotic blend of Cambodian rock, Afro grooves, surf, and garage psych returns with Cannibal Courtship, the group's first studio album since 2008's Venus on Earth and their Fantasy Records/Concord Music Group debut. With 11 new tunes, Cannibal Courtship, features songs sung in English and Khmer (Cambodian). The album also features beautiful backing harmonies by the Living Sisters.
With Cannibal Courtship, the band has reached a powerful new plateau, deftly balancing the wide-ranging influences that inform their sound and songs. Longtime fans will get their required dose of Nimol's haunting vocals and the band's spooky, kinetic, mood-swinging sound on the new disc but the group, which produced the set together, has upped the creative ante.
The band's eclecticism gels instantly on the slinky, spiky rock of 'Cement Slippers,' 'Family Business,' '2012' and 'Cannibal Courtship.' They display a deep pocket and soaring vocals on the Cambodian dub track 'Uku,' deliver bilingual, gear-shifting drive on 'Only a Friend,' and mesmerize on 'Mr. Bubbles.' Cannibal Courtship is, like the tropical malady that gave the band its name, wildly infectious.