Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – AirAsia has enlisted the help of Malaysian synth-pop artist Sam Lopez (aka lost spaces) for the Sounds of Asean music project to celebrate and showcase the diversity of Southeast Asia for ASEAN Day.
‘Sounds of Asean’ contains a line-up of tracks featuring five songs from five cities: Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok, Jakarta, Manila, and Singapore. Each track is based on field recordings and will feature audio bites from these eclectic destinations.
For this audio journey project, the Malaysian artist visited these cities, mingling with the locals, embarking on adventures, capturing the sounds, and sampling the vibes of Asean along the way.
Rudy Khaw, CEO of airasia brand co., shared the reasons as to why they chose Sam for the project.
“Sam’s music has this great chill vibe, yet at the same time, it also features bright, clean sounds and great use of sound sampling. We knew right away that we had to get him to work with us on this project. We’ve always been passionate about supporting local talent, and Sam has really managed to bring each city to life with Sounds of Asean,” he said.
Sam has created an audiovisual experience through the Sounds of Asean that brings the listener (or viewer) closer to the rest of Asean, allowing them to immerse themselves in the region’s rich, intricate tapestry.
His works were inspired by the heritage buildings, hawkers, jeepneys, and tuk-tuks, train announcements, temple bells, and even local cats he encountered during his travels for the project.
Speaking on this project, Sam hopes that the vibes of each city will inspire more people to get out and explore the world.
“Bangkok is one of my favourite cities, I call Kuala Lumpur home, Singapore is just so well-planned and walkable. I love Jakarta’s music scene, and this project also brought me to Manila for the first time! Before this project, I’d never thought about how different yet ‘same same’ we are in Southeast Asia, and it’s been fun to work on this project and come up with these tracks,” he added.
The project will also feature a full playlist and an upcoming travelogue series on Sam’s guide to his favourite places in each of these cities.
