Cannibal Courtship

Dengue Fever is an inventive melding of cultures and influences. Echoes of surf guitar pop and spy-movie themes are artfully injected into their East-meets-West psychedelic and garage rock sound. Thick organ grooves, horns and reeds, biting electric guitar, and a tight rhythm section create an alluring sound that is difficult to date or place. But Dengue Fever’s magic ingredient is Cambodian-born lead singer Chhom Nimol. Her charming and expressive voice is mesmerizing in this context. Singing in English and her native Khmer, depending on the song, she infuses the music with an exotic and mysterious quality. Tracks like “Uku,” “Sister In the Radio,” and “Durian Dowry,” sung in Khmer, are swirling and intoxicating, while “Family Business,” “Only a Friend,” and the title track, sung in English, are solid rock n’ soul cuts. Another standout is the dynamic and irresistible instrumental “Kiss of the Bufo Alvarius.” Sultry, stylish, and infectious, Cannibal Courtship, Dengue Fever’s fourth and finest release so far, finds them further refining their own globetrotting sound.