Phum Viphurit unmasks his alter ego

Following the surprising singles “The Other Side” and “Balter Baby,” Phum Viphurit presents his adventurous new project Paul Vibhavadi Vol. 1 in its complete form. Released on streaming platforms on 17 October, the Bangkok-born singer-songwriter takes his creativity and eccentricity to new heights through this four-song EP, which tells the story of Paul Vibhavadi, the world’s fastest-moving bilingual sloth on a quest to find inner peace.

The concept for Paul Vibhavadi Vol.1 originated from Phum’s desire to push the boundaries of his music, which then led the 29-year-old film school graduate down other creative avenues in his songwriting.

“For the longest time, I’ve been into early 2000s house music, and I always knew I wanted to incorporate my guitar playing into that type of BPM. When I had the idea for these four tracks in mind, I immediately thought of an alter ego,” he says. “I’ve always found that when artists do projects where they get to explore an alter ego — whether it’s Tyler, the Creator doing Igor or David Bowie being Ziggy Stardust — there’s almost a sense of newness in it, and that excited me. It also allowed me to detach myself from writing directly from my diary or personal experiences and use my screenwriter brain to create this character and the story arc within this new little universe.”

When it came to deciding on the alter ego’s name and character, Phum didn’t have to look far. “The sloth has been my logo for the last two years, and there’s something very calming about it that’s true to my own character. The name Paul Vibhavadi is actually a play on my initials, Phum Viphurit/Paul Vibhavadi. Vibhavadi is a well-known street in Bangkok, and Paul is my alias whenever I play FIFA or NBA 2K. Whenever I make sports characters, their name will always be Paul Vibhavadi. So, why not?”

With Phum stepping into Paul’s shoes, the Paul Vibhavadi Vol. 1 EP takes us on the sloth’s journey as an out-of-place city dweller in search of the magical forest of Himmapan. The opening track, “The Other Side,” is a house music banger that sees Paul encounter a sloth-worshipping tribe that lulls him into getting carried away by their idolatry. The instrumental dance track “Balter Baby” then soundtracks Paul cavorting with the tribe before he floats away in a glowing bubble. “Past Life,” featuring rapper TangBadVoice, takes a more contemplative tone as Paul is overcome with emotion while recollecting his former lives as he continues to float away. Finally, in the subdued finale, “If This Is the End,” Paul reaches the gateway of his destination and considers what he must leave behind if he chooses to enter.