Music release

Venus on Earth

Venus on Earth is the third album by the Los Angeles band Dengue Fever, released in 2008 and sung in Khmer and English.[1][2]

About the release

The album holds 12 original songs. It was the band's first record made entirely of its own compositions.[1][2][3] The songs blend 1960s Cambodian pop with surf rock, film-noir soundtracks, psychedelic riffs, jazzy accents and folk, along with other American and international styles.[1][2][3] There are echoes of Bollywood soundtracks, Ethiopian soul, American R&B and Cambodian folk.[1] The original compositions still draw on the Cambodian pop of the 1960s and 1970s.[4]

Chhom Nimol sings in Khmer and English. She sings more songs in English here than on earlier records, including duets with Zac Holtzman.[1][3] Zac Holtzman also sings backing vocals and some lead parts in English.[4] "Tiger Phone Card" is a duet by Nimol and Zac Holtzman about a long-distance romance between Phnom Penh and New York City.[5] The opening track, "Seeing Hands," moves from Cambodian rap into Khmer vocals over rock guitar and saxophone.[6] "Oceans of Venus" is an instrumental.[6] The album closes with a bonus track, "One Thousand Tears in Tarantula," a psychedelic rock-and-roll song sung in Khmer. It first appeared on the band's previous album.[4]

Ethan Holtzman has said the title asks whether humans are the only intelligent beings in the universe. He has also said the band uses it to call Chhom Nimol the Goddess of Love on Earth.[7]

Release

Glide Magazine gives the release date as January 22, 2008.[7] Real World Records gives June 8, 2008.[1] The album was issued on M 80 Music and on Real World, the label of Peter Gabriel.[6][4] A long summer tour of major European festivals supported the release.[1] In 2008, the radio program Fresh Air played "Tiger Phone Card" from the band's new album of original songs.[8]

Personnel

The album is performed by the Los Angeles sextet Dengue Fever, fronted by the Cambodian singer Chhom Nimol.[1][2][5][6]

  • Chhom Nimol: vocals
  • Zac Holtzman: guitars and vocals
  • Ethan Holtzman: Farfisa organ and keyboards
  • Senon Gaius Williams: bass
  • Paul Dreux Smith: drums and percussion
  • David Ralicke: horns
  • Gordon "Nappy G" Clay: percussion (special guest)

Background

The brothers Zac and Ethan Holtzman became interested in 1960s Cambodian pop. Living in Los Angeles, with its large Cambodian community, they recruited Chhom Nimol as lead singer, and Dengue Fever formed in 2001.[3][1] The band's first albums were Dengue Fever (2003) and Escape from Dragon House.[6] Those first two albums had included covers of songs by Sinn Sisamouth, known as the "King of Khmer music."[2][1] The documentary Sleepwalking Through The Mekong followed the group's 2005 tour through Cambodia.[6]

Track list

The standard album runs as follows.[5]

  1. "Seeing Hands"
  2. "Clipped Wings"
  3. "Tiger Phone Card"
  4. "Woman in the Shoes"
  5. "Sober Driver"
  6. "Monsoon of Perfume"
  7. "Integratron"
  8. "Oceans of Venus"
  9. "Laugh Track"
  10. "Tooth and Nail"
  11. "Mr. Orange"

The deluxe edition adds "Clipped Wings (Secret Circuit Remix)," "Seeing Hands (Live)" and "Tooth and Nail (Alt. Version)."[5]

Access

References

  1. ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 Real World Records, Venus on Earth
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 NPR, Dengue Fever: Psychedelic Khmer Rock (March 19, 2008)
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 NPR, Dengue Fever Seeks 'Venus on Earth' (March 10, 2008)
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Rythmes Croisés, Dengue Fever: Venus on Earth (in French, September 14, 2022)
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Dengue Fever Music, Venus on Earth (Deluxe Edition)
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 World Music Central, Mekong Global Surf (May 10, 2008)
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Glide Magazine, Dengue Fever: Venus on Earth (April 15, 2008)
  8. ↑ Fresh Air Archive, Dengue Fever: Vintage Cambodian Pop Remixed (2008)
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This page was last edited on 26 September 2026, at 23:23.