Maria Usbeck, former lead singer of the band Selebrities, dropped “Moai Y Yo” via The FADER last night, which then immediately had us wondering: Who Is She. Born in Ecuador and currently based in New York, the singer/producer is now promoting an upcoming solo record which promises serene pop born out of an existential crises from losing touch with her mother tongue. Usbeck later took it on herself to reconnect with her language and culture, all of which has aided her in building a more meaningful musical identity. One that is waiting to be unveiled in her album Amparo.
“Moai Y Yo” rises at sun salutation only to be carried off by gentle harmonies. The arrangements are simple but extremely rich. The singer pulls in harps and other ornate sounds that often recall Ramona Lisa (Chairlift's Caroline Polachek, who is actually listed as co-producer), an influence that becomes more pronounced through the Rapa Nui chants chained to the vocal patterns. Usbeck stretches the tonal canvas to its absolute limit. Reaching its conclusion it is hard not to feel elated both from the music and the impression of the discovery (“Te busqué, te encontré”). Maria Usbeck, welcome to the club.
Once a candidate vying for dream-pop's essence, Lorely Rodriguez (Empress Of) sounds fully charmed by the vigor of house music on latest single "Water Water." But unlike other songs from artists that have fallen for these same sources, no shortcuts were taken, no attempts to reduce the vision that we've come to expect from her. "Water Water" is turbulent to the end, enduring harsh elements by way of echoed cries and the emotions they represent. What saves it from relying on pure abstraction, of course, is the gorgeous release in its dance elements, which come together like a runway walk in the fourth dimension. Through this Lorely is able to split (or maybe even reject) the one-sided pop spotlight. ("I want to care much more, But I'm feeling less and less"). Anyone else have chills?
Empress Of will soon release her debut album on Terrible Records and XL Recordings.
Systems EP, Empress Of Terrible Records/Double Denim Rating: 84 by Giovanni Guillén
What have we learned since the '00s Latin Wave fizzled out? That the U.S. Latino presence can be adequately represented by a few megastars? That “Latino-ness” looks the same across the country and has been that way forever? These questions aren’t meant to bash the crossover success of J.Lo or even Pitbull, but more to illustrate my relief at the arrival of one Empress Of. Like 23-year-old Lorely Rodríguez, I am a native-born U.S. citizen whose first language was Spanish. Over time, school and friends naturally forced new dimensions onto my cultural identity. While this is, for the most part, a wonderful thing to experience, it definitely has its downside; for instance, in cases where others attempt to define that identity for me (“you don’t look or act Mexican…”).
Released on Terrible Records, the same brand attached to an impressive roster of Brooklyn cool kids (Chris Taylor, Chairlift, Blood Orange), one might be tempted to make similar false judgments towards Empress Of and her debut EP. Lacking an obvious Latin background, somehow it would then be fair to characterize her in another extreme: a trendy product made to blend in with the rest of (mostly) white indie culture. Systems, thankfully, is none of that. Written and self-produced, Rodríguez offers a unique glimpse inward: her bilingual thoughts, her own experiments, all while simultaneously challenging ideas about what a Latin@ musician should look and sound like in 2013. On paper that already makes this four-song release a success, but the true achievement, of course, behind Empress Of lies entirely in the quality of the music.
Last year’s Yours Truly performance of “Don’t Tell Me” served as the perfect prelude into Systems. By stripping the song of its orotund layers and effects (leaving only piano), one had no choice but to confront Rodríguez’s delicate plea: “Don’t tell me it’s too late for us… hold me tight, don’t let go.” On Systems, Rodríguez’s words once again seek safety behind the old dynamic, only now there’s a balance. The production is tighter, the lyrics are no longer buried; strength and fragility coexist, each work to fortify her inner realm.
Opener “Hat Trick” thrusts, no, aparates right into a world of movement and chaos. The interpolated whoosh sounds bring to mind rivers and cascades flowing towards a looming collision. But that danger and uncertainty can also be thrilling (“tell me my future, tell me I’ll make it”). Over the weeks and months that I’ve arrived at its gleaming revelation I still get a rush (“now that I know you exist, never let you go”), rightfully earning a place as one of the year’s best singles. “No Means No” mixes interesting time signatures, subtle math rock (remnants of her Celestial Shore days?) with an exciting hook. Something I could definitely see contemporaries like Algodón Egipcio or Dënver getting their hands on for future remix brilliance.
For the Spanish-language second act, Lorely trades live percussion for brighter designs of synth and voice. “Tristeza” confronts a newly acquired freedom, perhaps after some much-needed crying. The tears are gone, but confusion and anxiety are still there. It’s no wonder Rodríguez pauses and gasps throughout as if catching her breath. “Camisa favorita” builds paper chains out of syllables, carefully laid side-by-side. Its chorus achieves a perfect dizzying effect, “hay algo algo que… olvidé olvidé.” Non-Spanish speakers take note: the repetition on here (like so much music in Spanish) need not be transcribed or translated, it just needs to be felt.
As Empress Of (Brooklyn-based "project of sight + sound" by Lorely Rodriguez) continues to seep through various spots around the blogosphere and starts to gain attention from even the most revered of zines, it’s hard for us not to feel bad about not covering her until now, considering the musical output she’s been laying out these past few months has been both riveting and atypical. Her "colorminutes" project of fifteen one-minute-long songs playing in front of a uniquely colored background on YouTube is an unsettling experience of short-attention-span pop music, and makes us think about just how little the one-minute song format has been exploited (or at least popularized) outside the form of three-chord guitar jams - whether it’s through the viscerality of punk rock’s various branches, or the hook centricity of Guided by Voices-style lo-fi.
Rodriguez, though, has claimed these small tracks are only snippets of forthcoming full ones, which just confirms the fact that, as captivating as some of these color minutes can be, most of them do have a sense of incompletion to them. Which is why she developed a couple of these snippets into full 3-minute tracks. Her previous single “Champagne” is an intriguing slice of pop (or watermelon) indulgence, whose unabashed beauty via erratic songcraft delineates very well her self-declared fandom of Cocteau Twins and Deerhoof. On her latest track “Hat Trick,” she appears to gracefully settle on a more traditional approach to song structure and pacing. Featuring a Laura Palmer-esque cover photo that could be a subtle nod to Julee Cruise-style dream pop. Most recent comparisons tend to gravitate towards other contemporaries (St. Vincent) who, like Empress Of, have elegantly conflated the gap between pop and experimentalism.
Her forthcoming bilingual EP Systems is out on Terrible and Double Denim next month.
