Paradise Bangkok Molam International Band (PBMIB) has released its first studio album since 2016’s successful Planet Lam. The new album sees the band return with a fuller sound, augmented by superb guest spots by veteran molam Pimjai Petchpalanchai on vocals, ponglang (Isan xylophone) player Sirawiz Tongsahatam, sor (fiddle) player Chanon Chinnarach and pi (oboe) player Somnuek Seangarun. Highlights include a reworking of an old classic ‘Pimjai Lam Plearn’, the uptempo opener ‘Zud Rang Ma’ and Sawai Kaewsombat’s khaen playing on ‘Don Sawai Lam Plearn’. The Molam Bus compilation showcases live recordings of some the acts at the Molam Bus stage at Wonderfruit Festival. The bus, a mobile touring exhibition of molam, parks up each year at Wonderfruit Festival and since 2022, Maft Sai (Zudrangma Records owner) has curated molam shows on an expanded stage. This comp showcases some of the best performances and most interesting post-molam sounds from 2022. Veteran Thai reggae star GA-PI (T-Bone reggae band) kicks off the album with a dub track, ‘Big Joke’, and versions of dub mixed with molam feature throughout. Standouts include the traditional ‘paying homage to teacher’ track, ‘Lam Glone Wai Kru’, with molam Pidsamai Kaifah and khaen maestro Sawai Kaewsombat and ‘Toomturn Swern Jai’ by Toomturn Molam Group. PBMIB, hugely popular at Wonderfruit, close out the album with an energetic mash-up, ‘Exit Planet Lam’, that ends one era and begins another.