Singaporean Export, Gifted Fire, Delivers A Worldly House Album With Filipino Firepower

Gifted Fire is living the Singaporean producer’s dream with international recognition (Credit: Courtesy of Gifted Fire)

Our tiny yet talent-teeming country scores another win with this smouldering export. Gifted Fire is the alias of this Singapore-born producer and DJ who’s currently based in New York. But despite his origins, he brings a wealth of worldly experience in his cosmopolitan repertoire, fusing traditional instruments with the modern intricacies of electronic dance music.

His sounds fluently speak the lingo of Afro house and organic house while tinted with subtle accents of disco and deep house; an open-minded audial wanderer without a doubt. In fact, Gifted Fire made his recent debut at Wonderfruit 2024, following a string of other regional gigs including Nokal in Manila, The Trilogy in Hong Kong, and back home on Singapore soil with Manifest and Behind The Green Door.

Gifted Fire flaunts over a decade of experience with past releases on Inward Records, Tech Afrique, and Club Rapture (Credit: Courtesy of Gifted Fire)

It's this relentless roaming spirit that spurs on Gifted Fire’s craft, fuelling a voracious hunger to visualise sound through a global lens. And it’s that same curious appetite that’s led him to piece together Kalibutan, an album that whisked the producer off to The Philippines to collaborate with Filipino world music band KAWANGIS AlternaTRIBU. Translating to “world” or “universe” in Filipino, Kalibutan is a distilled treasure of cultural fusion, bridging Gifted Fire’s house music savvy with indigenous instruments with centuries of history. You can even witness this magic unfold with this mini-documentary produced by Gifted Fire’s team.

"Kalibutan is about connecting cultures through the power of music. I’m fascinated by the exploration of traditional Filipino sounds and instruments, and my goal is to bring these rich, indigenous elements to a global audience,” Gifted Fire shares. “Music, to me, is about connecting with people, expressing creativity, celebrating the fusion of old and new, and sharing the unique beauty of these traditions through a modern lens.”

And the outcome? A potpourri of adventurous and unusual compositions that spin the globe and tell a story. “Tool of Freedom” is an enchanting and sunkissed opener that puts you in an ecstatic trance, led by the Guayupi (a two-string guitar) with its harmonious layers rolling atop one another. “Putomayo” adds African and Aboriginal nuances with djembe and didgeridoo elements, creating a meditative yet mischievous house number that pumps on soothingly. And then you have the deep and loungey “Playground of The Gods” that hardly lazes, arousing listeners with a blend of the Gangsa (flat gongs) and Kubing (jaw harp) weaved with glossy chords and synth droplets.

The seven-track album is not unlike a transportive and vivid saga that chronicles an atlas of sounds. And like a mystery ticket, you never know what destination you’ll land at next.