To be honest, I’ve never really liked music from Southeast Asia. Lyrical ballads that could only have been about heart wrenching love stories, seemed to be all I ever heard in stores, on the street, and in bars while traveling on my last trip to the other side of the Pacific. I certainly wasn’t hooked. But when I returned I came across Dengue Fever, and my previous assumptions about Southeast Asian inspired music were immediately thrown out the window.

Although based in Los Angeles, Dengue Fever draws its inspiration from Cambodia. The band was started in 2001 when brothers Ethan and Zac Holtzman discovered they both loved the exotic sounds and rhythms of Cambodian pop music of the 60s. After bringing along few more members – David Ralicke, Paul Smith and Senon Williams – they decided they needed a Cambodian singer to add to the mix. That was when they found Chhom Nimol, and incredible and well known Cambodian songstress who used to perform regularly for the King and Queen of Cambodia.

When you hear Nimol on stage, you can understand why her vocals were chosen for the royal treatment. Her voice is powerful, hypnotic at times, evoking centuries of history and culture while at the same time keeping the beat fun and frisky. Add to that the occasional traditional dance move, and Nimol has a stage presence that is hard to find elsewhere. Decked out in a glittery gold dress complete with gold stilettos when the band played in Portland, OR earlier this week, she certainly fulfilled the role of imperial songstress.

The band’s most recent album Venus on Earth is their third, and Dengue Fever’s continuous effort to create a sound that is both Cambodian and American is ever apparent. It’s a blend of rock, jazz, guitar pop, and Cambodian psychadelic. Sound hard to categorize? It is. But the results are hard to stop listening to.

Check out the Seeing Hands video below: