Blastique – A Million Lies

Washing off a friend’s blood, after rescuing her from a brutal beating by her abusive boyfriend.

This image lies at the heart of “A Million Lies,” the groundbreaking debut single by Zoal.

This bedroom angst pop from Malaysia’s Generation Z combines the soaring highs of Radiohead and raw emotion of Post Malone.

The song tackles a taboo subject matter using stark language rarely heard before in Malaysian pop.

"A Million Lies is a song I made after a really tragic event that happened to a close friend. I wrote this song to remind her of her worth after an abusive relationship. It can be really hard to leave your abuser, especially when you only see the good in them. But even the worst criminal has at least a little good in them. I hope if someone in a similar situation finds this song, they could realize that fixing someone is out of your control — and the sooner you leave, the sooner you'll recover, just like my friend. One year later she found a new love who treats her right, and she is the happiest I've seen,” recounts Zoal, who was born and raised in Kuala Lumpur.

The story behind its production reflects the revolution in music that has allowed young stars like Bille Ellish to produce lush hit records in their bedrooms.

Zoal, a 20-year-old culinary college student, took a recording of the lyrics he wrote to producer Reuben “Blastique” Samuel at Kuala Lumpur’s Mile High Sounds.

They built up the simple recording into a moody, infectious song with a pop structure and haunting melody.

Samuel, who produces and performers under the stage name “Blastique”, said he used 16 falsetto tracks to recreate the feeling of a chamber choir, using off axis microphone techniques.

Zoal initially hired Samuel as a producer, but the young singer was so intrigued by the process of transforming his thin vocal recording into a lush professional track that he is studying how to use Ableton music production software at Mile High Sounds. Samuel is the only certified Ableton instructor in Malaysia.

Local designer Alex Krasnikov made the cyber punk album art, set on a Kuala Lumpur bridge, based on a sketch by Zoal.

"A Million Lies” by Zoal and Blastique is available on all streaming platforms starting February 5, 2021.