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Malaysian artiste joins performers from five other countries in a ‘New Day Rising’
SEVEN musicians from six Asian countries have joined forces for New Day Rising, a collaborative song combining traditional instruments, electronic production and sounds recorded from everyday objects.
The project features artistes from Malaysia, Pakistan, Vietnam, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand, each bringing different musical influences and approaches to songwriting.
Malaysian singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Belle Sisoski is among the participating musicians, alongside Pakistani singer Natasha Noorani, Vietnamese producer 2pillz, Singaporean indie artiste Shye, Thai-Italian singer Valentina Ploy and Filipino twins Miguel and Paolo Benjamin of folk-pop band Ben&Ben.
The song premiered Oct 23 on YouTube, accompanied by a behind-the-scenes documentary detailing the recording process.
One of the collaboration’s more unusual elements was transforming everyday vehicle sounds into musical arrangements.
The musicians sampled turn signals, gear changes, power windows and closing car doors, incorporating the recordings into rhythms and melodies.
These mechanical sounds were combined with traditional instruments from their respective cultures, including the Alghoza, a Pakistani double flute, and the Đàn tơ rưng, a Vietnamese bamboo xylophone.
The musicians initially developed their own compositions before combining their ideas into a collective track.
The final arrangement incorporates elements of folk-pop, R&B, electronic music, dream-pop and shoegaze, with layered vocal harmonies and orchestral arrangements.
For Sisoski, the collaboration follows her previous work incorporating traditional Southeast Asian instruments into contemporary electronic music.
The Malaysian musician has performed at the Rainforest World Music Festival and staged Ethnosphere, a concert combining orchestral arrangements and electronic dance music with the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra.
Noorani, meanwhile, draws from South Asian musical traditions, R&B and electronic pop. Her debut album RONAQ, released in 2023, introduced her blend of Pakistani musical influences and contemporary production.
Vietnamese producer 2pillz has worked with artistes including tlinh, Amee and Mono, producing music across hip-hop, pop and electronic genres.
Singaporean singer Shye takes a more independent approach, handling her own songwriting, recording, mixing and production. Her latest album The Doves Came Home was released in May.
Ploy draws from her Thai and Italian upbringing, incorporating folk and electronic influences into her pop compositions. She previously opened for Coldplay during the band’s Bangkok concert in 2024.
Representing the Philippines are Miguel and Paolo Benjamin, whose acoustic duo eventually developed into Ben&Ben, a nine-member band known for its folk-pop sound.
Despite their different backgrounds, the musicians worked together to create a song incorporating elements from across their respective musical traditions.
New Day Rising forms part of Move Your World Beat Volume 1, a regional music project organised by Toyota Motor Asia.
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