Award winning Thai singer Pyra today releases new album, PYRADISE

Known for calling out inequality, prejudice and oppression, in an exclusive interview, Pyra talks about her new album and how she’s helping herself feel again

Currently back in Thailand, the Pyra I meet on camera for our exclusive interview is very different from the curated persona we see in music videos. Fresh-faced under a baseball cap, she’s opinionated for sure, but also approachable, perceptive and up for discussion. Now 31, she is no longer the young woman we met in 2020 with ‘Bangkok,’ a tribute to deceased and missing Thai activists or ‘Plastic World,’ condemning rampant consumerism. Nor the individual that in 2021 released ‘Yellow Fever,’ decrying the sexual objectification of Asian women.

Over the last few years, she’s grown and evolved her thinking, now reprioritizing yet continuing to use her platform and her album PYRADISE to pinpoint wrongs. There’s so much serious conversation spelling out the importance of having a voice and using it. And the state of politics around the world. Why is politics important to this conversation? Because to date, that’s what Pyra has been sounding the alarm about. As a woman, a young person, an Asian, a Thai female, she’s got a lot to say.

Born Peeralada Sukawat in Bangkok and performing since the age of 9, she attended Chulalongkorn University and independently published her first song in 2016. She quickly won Apple Music’s Best New Artist that year, a few years later capturing Best Asian Solo Act at the BandLab NME Awards in 2022. After a stint signed to Warner Music from 2020, post the pandemic, she went back to producing her music independently. Now her voice is completely unrestricted – for the moment anyway.

In 2022, she spirited away as her music became known by those who would appreciate a quieter Pyra. To quote straight from her YouTube channel, “I moved from Bangkok to London because of the new censorship articles imposed by the Thai military government. Thing is…if you’ve done nothing wrong, there’s nothing to hide or be afraid of, innit? Shrug.”

Having returned to the motherland in 2023, she speaks candidly about her growth and using therapy to understand herself better. She continues to work to turn her anger into something positive, assigning herself the job of igniting her fans.

DYSTOPIA, NOT UTOPIA

We start by discussing ‘Wet,’ her debut single ahead of today’s album release, PYRADISE, a ‘dystopian pop’ LP challenging inequality and empowering fans to reclaim their creativity. From the press materials, “’Wet’ embodies the spirit of female empowerment, symbolizing the act of rising to the surface despite being thrown overboard to drown. It’s a metaphor for overcoming adversity and reclaiming power in the face of oppression.”

In our 1-2-1, Pyra notes she doesn’t have an emotional attachment to her songs, yet for ‘Wet,’ “I actually, personally, like that track. My favorite is usually the one that no one likes, probably wouldn’t listen to. But, yeah, this time it’s quite different.”

For her previous releases, she focused on the concept of dystopia – the opposite of utopia. What does that look like to Pyra today? “2020 was me foreseeing dystopia – the near future. But I think we’re currently living in dystopia – we’re in the time of 1984. It’s not the near future or the far future. It is now.”

GOVERNING BODIES

We move onto the volatile world of Thai politics – how does she use her music to talk about it? For example, ‘petrol & matches,’ is about Pyra’s experience of being placed on a watch list by the Thai military government, instigating that escape to London. While ‘cut my tongue’ is a clear finger-forward message to her blacklisters.

“I feel like if you’re not in politics, you’re not a part of it. You’re totally excluded from it. The most concrete example is that we had an election where [a candidate] won by a landslide. And then someone else from another party became Prime Minister. Yeah. Democracy not at work. Nobody knows what’s happening.”

But connecting it to her songs, she notes, “My music is a reflection of the world. It’s a social commentary. It’s coming from a point of confusion, frustration, oppression – because nobody knows what’s happening.”

Is confusion the biggest problem? “It’s funny, after that election, we got a prime minister, so it’s not a dictatorship anymore. It’s a party run by an ex-prime minister who was exiled. And now he’s made a deal with someone and he’s back. Now, he’s the puppet master. I would say that he’s a good businessman. Right now, Thailand has an economy that’s better than the UK, better than Europe. So that’s why I’m here now. I’m back because I feel like, wow, it’s a short peacetime.”

Having spent two years in London, she’s got something with which to compare. “Yeah, I’m planning to be in Asia for a bit. Because the UK – since Brexit – that country is going downhill. And politics is also a shit show. It’s [the same] everywhere now.”

Even with all the confusion, there’s been some positive news out of Thailand recently – the proposed bill to grant same-sex marriage. Does that feel like a win? “Anything the media says, anything related to politics, I don’t get excited about. Because it’s all coming from an economic benefit to someone … If it [happens to] meet everybody’s purpose, then that’s great.”

PIVOTAL POINTS

Having noted that her inspiration can come from anything that makes her feel, we talk about pivotal moments, the ones that set her on today’s path.

“Turning from an independent artist to a major label – that’s a big pivot I didn’t quite, you know, enjoy. And then, terminating my contract going independent again. That’s my current state – no manager, no label. After leaving Warner, I started winning awards. I thought it would create joy in my life. Then I realized – this is just five minutes of an intense dopamine hit. Then it’s over – ‘Oh shit. What’s the next award I should win?’ It’s an endless chase. Now I want to prioritize my personal happiness. [Awards are] just an armor for my insecure self.”

With this in mind – letting go of armor and the trappings of approval – what would success look like? “Feeling a sense of satisfaction with where I am, in every moment of my life. Like tranquility? Peace of mind, I guess. It’s so hard to achieve in a capitalist world, for all of us. I mean, I need a few therapy sessions – maybe for a few more years. I don’t think anybody can achieve that unless you leave the world and become a monk. We need to find the balance. There’s no recipe – it’s different for everyone, but we need to try.”

LIGHTER SIDE

We move on to lighter topics like Thai BL dramas, anime and the character on screen she feels most like. As so many of our readers are reading reviews of Boys Love dramas – Thai content in particular, which has been soaring – I check in to see if it’s something Pyra enjoys.

“I’ve been exposed to [Japanese BL] since a long time ago. Now that Thailand has become a center of BL in Southeast Asia, I’m confused. But also, it makes sense because we have high gender equality. That’s why we’re having equal rights marriage. And that’s why BL is popping. Right now, the way to make it as a male actor in Thailand is to be on a BL series.”

On to anime, her all-time favorite is Attack on Titan. “I’ve seen so many and the plots are just ‘Oh, hero fighting villain.’ It’s always so shallow. But Attack on Titan – wow, to be able to think of such a complex plot, it’s already done from the start. It’s like Star Wars – not chronological. [There’s] so much about politics, moral ethics and religion – everything is just, wow, [Hajime Isayama]’s a genius.”

We carry on this conversation, trading partialities and landing her all-time favorite anime movie, Paprika. “It’s Inception – copied frame by frame.” As to a character that seems most like Pyra, “It’s Jennifer Lawrence in Don’t Look Up. It’s about dystopia. So, this is me – I would say things exactly as she says it.”

DRIVING FORCES

In previous interviews, Pyra had spoken about people having a personal anger. What’s the anger – the emotion – driving her today? “I guess that anger turns. That consistent inability to solve all my problems… makes me numb to things. So instead of being angry or instead of even celebrating equal rights marriage, it was, ‘it’s politics.’ For me, now is about taking action. Taking action and learning how to manage stress.”

It could feel like I’m trying to pry at Darth Vader’s helmet but there’s more than anger going on here. “I think I’m quite different from the pirate that people see in my art or like on stage, because art is a playground. It’s a safe space where I can shout, scream and go crazy. All my angst, all my pain can be expressed in my work and on stage. And me – like you’re seeing right now – it’s a monotonous poker face that doesn’t feel anything anymore.”

I’m not buying it. There’s so much emotion just under the surface – from humor to frustration – that it’s not able to be contained. “Yeah, I’m working on feeling things again. And this is true story. I’m actually seeing a therapist to feel again.” Treading delicately on, what presses someone to lose feeling? “It’s a physical response to repeated trauma.”

“I’ve been reading books about psychiatry, psychology and it is repeated pain that makes you feel like, ‘OK, you’re in automatic defense mode.’ Having so much drive to win awards and chase after things that don’t really matter. Whatever I won nobody can take that away from me. I’m sorted. My outside public self is sorted. I need to work on my inner self right now.”

CHANGING TIMES

We talk briefly about how artists voices get smaller when they’re not producing or winning awards. “I think it’s worse now. Thailand’s tourism industry is popping, but the music industry is in one of its worst times. Now Spotify and the streaming industry is killing the art. We’re almost at the end of the streaming era and something is going to come and disrupt because this is very unhealthy for everybody.”

Moving quickly into artificial intelligence (AI), she notes, “You cannot make art anymore. You’re just like making things to feed the algorithm.” But thinking a bit more, Pyra concludes, “I’m actually not afraid of AI – I’m for AI. I like this because in the beginning of every new technology, there’s fear in the world. Like with the Internet – ‘Oh, my God, it’s going to take over the world.’ We fear the unknown.  But once the beginning is over, we will know how to manage this new technology.”

As we close our chat, Pyra sends a message to TRG readers, “Thank you for being my very recent fan. That goes a long way. Yeah, I hope this relationship goes a long way. Thank you so much.”

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Does Pyra’s message resonate with you? We’d love to hear about it in the comments below.

Click to check out our preview story for Pyra’s recent single ‘Wet,’ the full interview Q&A and the PYRADISE album review. 

Or have a read of more interviews, Thai content reviews, our Thai same-sex marriage bill celebration story or 10 best dystopian movies.