The physical edition of Lejos. No Tan Lejos, the third full-length album by Hello Seahorse! is out now in the U.S. via Nacional Records. Although a grower, the universal reception of the album seems to be more respectful than enthusiastic. The band has had to reconcile with its audience one step at a time, and we’re glad they’re picking the right singles to make that happen. “Me Has Olvidado” is one of those operatic songs that (without asking), stamps into your walls and is hard to let go. Music video director Diego Martinez Ulanosky is creating a solid body of work as the band’s recurring audiovisual creative. Here, they pick up on the narrative of their ghostly video for “Un Año Quebrado”, where a man goes on a journey to realize he’s dead. This time, the band stands on what seems like the ruins of a cathedral, looking pretty evil and entertained watching a man ‘detach’ his life strings. Conceptually, this looks like a frame of De Palma’s The Black Dahlia, except that here, we could argue LoBlondo and his allies are having a great time deciding the faith of the poor man.
Showing posts with label mun. Show all posts
Showing posts with label mun. Show all posts
Video: Hello Seahorse! - "Me Has Olvidado"
The physical edition of Lejos. No Tan Lejos, the third full-length album by Hello Seahorse! is out now in the U.S. via Nacional Records. Although a grower, the universal reception of the album seems to be more respectful than enthusiastic. The band has had to reconcile with its audience one step at a time, and we’re glad they’re picking the right singles to make that happen. “Me Has Olvidado” is one of those operatic songs that (without asking), stamps into your walls and is hard to let go. Music video director Diego Martinez Ulanosky is creating a solid body of work as the band’s recurring audiovisual creative. Here, they pick up on the narrative of their ghostly video for “Un Año Quebrado”, where a man goes on a journey to realize he’s dead. This time, the band stands on what seems like the ruins of a cathedral, looking pretty evil and entertained watching a man ‘detach’ his life strings. Conceptually, this looks like a frame of De Palma’s The Black Dahlia, except that here, we could argue LoBlondo and his allies are having a great time deciding the faith of the poor man.
Video: Le Baron - "Esplendor"
Le Baron has a new gorgeous single and video out, first cut from their much awaited upcoming debut LP (out next year). For those who don’t know them, people have been anticipating this album for a while; their Le Baron EP is probably the most recognized short since Zoe’s The Room EP, a band that always comes up when finding comparisons of what Le Baron could aspire to become. I don’t get why “Inmovil” become the huge hit it became, although they’re clearly a talented promising band. I was hoping they would follow something along the lines of “El Vertigo del Desprendimiento” and it seems like they did. I feel confident enough to call “Esplendor” their best song yet.
Track Review: "Criminal", Hello Seahorse!
HELLO SEAHORSE! - Criminal
Mun
Bestia
Rating: 9.0
(7.5) Andrew Casillas. For an album that tries to sound as deliberately paranoid as Bestia, "Criminal" is a breath of pine scented air. Beginning with a fairly typical post-punk instrumental, Lo Blondo's vocals float over the track in an almost prescient fashion, at least until the 2 and a half minute mark, where the vocals actually float. From there, the tempo gets kicked up as "Criminal" goes into dance party mode. What's that, a Hello Seahorse! song that you can dance to?! YES. If only the whole thing were just the second half...
(9.2) Carlos Reyes. The third single from Bestia is a brilliant moment of clarity for Hello Seahorse! “Criminal” is in itself, an encounter of the band’s former sound in composition with their inner desire. It starts on violent passionate terms “Se me secaron las lagrimas de mi mente criminal” that could’ve been part of The Honeymoon Killers or even more interesting Profundo Carmesi, only to shift the music through a vey danceable tune that makes the whole situation hypnotic and spellbinding. Death, sacrifice and promises are elevations of a narrative that ends up being supportive to their smash it “Bestia” and a mesmerizing hymn of its own.
(9.5) Jean-Stephane Beriot. As the months pass by I become more attached to the lastest album by HS!, not only for its emotionally-driven songs but also for its fearful premise. “Criminal” is one of several songs that bleeds feeling from its core and yet feels like it could’ve been part of Hoy a las Ocho. I’m going to sound like the guys from Pitchfork when they review Spanish-language albums but sometimes I do struggle to get some of the lyrics and as a funny fact, it bothered me that the song states that everyone has a poem inside, sounded cheesy as hell but I had to revise my statement once I learned it says “everyone has a beast inside” and it just redefined the song completely. A knockout!
(9.7) Juan Manuel Torreblanca. This song is the bomb! A complex piece built upon several parts; brilliant melodies, crunchy and exciting beats, deeply woven synths, & (finally) a dancey upbeat groove that links it to Hello Seahorse’s past without disconnecting from the concept that the first hit off the record Bestia established for the whole. On the contrary, “Criminal” elaborates on it bringing us to the marrow: todos tenemos una bestia por dentro que vive de nuestras lágrimas y fracasos, pero duerme si le hacemos entender que su papel es existir y no insistir… genius. And how exquisite is that voice?
Bestia, Hello Seahorse!
BESTIA, HELLO SEAHORSE!
MUN, México ****1/2
Rating: 90
By Carlos Reyes
Through the enigmatic summit of ghostly beauty, the third album by Hello Seahorse! discharges some of the most precious moments music will give us this year, Bestia is the consolidation of the trio as a major enforcement in Mexico’s indie. A significant step forward to their previous works; their charmingly twee first album …And the Jellyfish Parade and the magical sleeper-hit Hoy a las Ocho EP sound captivatingly conflicted to the much darker and bolder Bestia. The animalistic and monstrous introduction of the leading single “Bestia” serve as the connecting loop as we enter a space of shadows that is both enchanting and destructive, and best of all, it’s furiously dualistic and fully aware of its skill.
Although their single “Bestia” is this year’s indie hit and they’re breaking into a larger range of followers, this is their least immediate and accessible moment yet. It’s a full investment on their art, and to our surprise, all the songs are in Spanish. The single is a marvelous piece; I’m almost convinced my interpretation of the song is far away from the original idea, but I like my romanticized view on “Bestia” as a song about the desire for salvation and the fear to confront light, like a man taking the easy route walking with the beast and now comes back in redemption, facing the lion’s roar and finding out shame has taken his voice as punishment. Later on the album “El Segundo” picks up the defeatist scar, through sublime instrumentation and angelical vocals, the trio duels a demon and triumphs with the help of visionary producer Yamil Rezc.
The second single “Despues” is a piece on the ambiguous attractiveness of the unknown and the clumsy outcomes that result when trying to make sense of it. Also already familiar “Universo 2”, which was included in the U.S. edition of Hoy a las Ocho released by Magic Maker last year, a piece about the mystical escape of two lovers in search of the details that make up a predestinate universe in which their love would flourish. Hello Seahorse! isn’t necessarily a more mature band, we still want to see the uplifting sprit of “Won’t say anything”, but they’re showing another dimension that feels more personal. In a song like “Criminal” they’re no longer talking about communal secrets, it’s about the measure of sacrifice. Other highlights include “Miercoles” and “Siberia”, in collaboration with Chetes.
Bestia remains brilliant all throughout; it really is an imaginative voyage although once you get to “Oso Polar” it’s hard to continue before replaying the song over and over, certainly the album’s best piece and it might just be their best song yet period. A vulnerable polar bear walking through the streets looking for his home becomes part of a hide and seek afternoon; it incorporates the child game as the music alternates firm predatory drums and warmer delicate passages of a targeted pray. It’s a complex narrative that even advices those playing the game to beware of power and sizes, “no seas idiota, te crees mas grande que el, mira sus garras, te pueden matar tambien.” Certainly one of the year’s most precious albums, we’re hoping for a U.S. release to come our way very soon.
Artist of the Week: Le Baron
Le Baron is supposed to be the next Zoe according to many, I’m not fully sold on that but the attention they are getting is seriously justified. They released their freshman self-titled EP last year, which has slowly transferred its magic into 2008 where the band is now getting love from MTV and a chunk of mainstream radio. “Inmovil” was the indie hit of the 2007 in Reactor 105.7, as we’ve pointed out before, they are the most significant indie radio station in Mexico, perhaps in Latin America. They are signed under MUN which is becoming a symbol for quality (Hello Seahorse!, Subdivision). There is a second single now rotating, “Exilio” which I found even better than the first hit. Now, the really exciting piece in their EP has got to be “El vertigo del desprendimiento”, a sublime track about the compression of time in space, about its detachment from surface and its explosion of colors while hitting ground. It’s been the song in my ears for about two weeks now and doesn’t let go, expect a high ranking on our Best of the Year post coming up this month. Oh and yeah, there’s an amazing political/humane song titled “Soldado John” really captures the outside view the world has upon America, and it does it without been over sentimental or judgmental.
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