After a nomination for one of Canada’s music prizes (The Polaris), Toronto quartet Pantayo have shared a new video for album track “V V V (They Lie)” from director Diana Lynn VanderMuelen. Pantayo’s self-titled debut album was long-listed for the 2020 Polaris Music Prize. On the record Pantayo explores what’s possible for contemporary kulintang music with the atonal blend of kulintang ensemble instruments with vocals and electronic production.

“‘V V V (They Lie)’ comes from a place of growth, pride, and defiance,” the band says. “In this karaoke music video, we imagine an uplifting New Earth where there is abundance and liberation. A hopeful world created as a result of dismantling white supremacy, fighting the lies of colonialism, and ending fascism and the oppression of marginalized peoples. A world that symbolizes positive change and is possible with our collective willingness to evolve, grow, and do better.

We’re so excited to work with Diana Lynn VanderMeulen as she draws from her experience of world-building to render an environment that reflects our vision: a summery world filled with flora endemic to the tropics (jasmine, bouganvillea, hibiscus), all connected by bodies of water.”

Out now on Telephone Explosion, the self-titled debut album features eight diverse songs speaking to Pantayo’s musical influences as queer diasporic Filipinas. Produced by Yamantaka // Sonic Titan’s alaska B, Pantayo was written and recorded from 2016-2019 in Toronto.

Grounded in the interpretation of kulintang music, Pantayo can be a vehicle for discussions around diasporic Filipino identity. All five members have different experiences of settling in Canada and with that comes their relationships with music. Kat Estacio, co-founder of Pantayo, says “One way that we can make this world feel like home for folks like us is to mix the kulintang music that we learned with different sounds and song structures that feel familiar to us.”