Prezident Markon’s New Singles Round-Up: (Maria Lima, Aïtawa, Montoya, Son Rompe Pera, Sr. Ortegón, BALTHVS and many more)

Well, spring has almost sprung its last now and while steeling myself to bid farewell to the loveliest time of year, I have assembled for the common good yet another variegated bunch of new singles from the Latin world. To quote Gil Scott-Heron, “Uno, dos, tres, cuatro…”

Marina Lima: “Um Dia na Vida (feat. Ana Frango Elétrico)

I’m not entirely sure if a “focus track” qualifies as a single, but let’s imagine that it’s one and the same thing. Besides, this is too good to overlook, featuring as it does the distinctive voice of Ana Frango Elétrico in her customary contemporary pop context. It’s taken from Lima’s album Ópera Grunkie, her first in seven years, which features other such collaborations – including one with the splendid Adriana Calcanhotto. Ms. Lima is 70 now, but she’s clearly got plenty more in the tank.

Leandro Serizo: “Abutre”

More rock than pop, with a liberal sprinkling of trap and MPB, this Brazilian artist is based in Campinas in the state of São Paulo. He created this musical farrago in collaboration with another Campinasta (if that’s what they’re known as), Cauãzin 019. It’s taken from the forthcoming album, Sol Quimérico, and I’ll leave it to the artist to explain what the single’s all about, as he does it better than I could: “This song started taking shape when I was around sixteen. It came from a constant feeling of unrest — an internal conflict tied to fear, rebirth, and the desire for rupture. Many of the melodic and structural elements from those early ideas remained in the final recording. More than anything, though, I was trying to transform an emotional state into sound and intensity.” It sure as hell is intense.

Aïtawa: “Dime que tú quieres”

Here’s the second single from an album I’ve just reviewed for Songlines by a Franco-Colombian group that includes former members of the estimable outfit, Pambelé. Pasajé is the album in question and it came out at the end of last month. The multi-instrumental vocalist Luisa Caceres is the quartet’s figurehead and the rock-oriented backing comes courtesy of bass, drums, psychedelic guitar and an organ that sounds like it was shipped over from Peru in the 1970s. The single, like the album, is well worth our attention.

Francisca Valenzuela: “Malacara”

Talking of female vocals, here’s the US-based Chilean singer’s new single. It’s taken from her album out at the end of July, Maldita, that promises apparently to shatter the myths of motherhood. Until that day arrives, we must content ourselves with what the singer describes as “a visceral, intense, brutal, and beautiful rant on being fed up”. “Nothing,” she suggests, “is more uncomfortable than an angry woman.” At the risk of incurring her wrath, I have to say that it reminds me uncomfortably of another hyper-emotive singer, Bonnie Tyler. Let’s move on quickly before there’s a total eclipse of the sun…

Nicola Conte: “Terra Em Transe”/”Naquela Base”

After all that emotion, it’s a bit of a relief to move on to something that’s… well, perhaps a little anodyne, but a rather nice invocation of 1970s Brazilian samba-jazz by the Italian regular of Far Out Recordings, who does this sort of thing so well. Is it Latin? Is it Brazilian? Is it Italian? I’m not sure, but the spirit’s willing and it’s good enough to merit a place in this month’s round-up.

Montoya: “Fantasia feat. Elasi”

Holy serendipity, Batman! Here’s something else with an Italian twist – in the shape of the vocalist, Elasi. And who’s Montoya? Well, he’s a Colombian violinist and composer and clearly someone with a pop sensibility. This “rhythmic dialogue between premonition and the present” was apparently born in the Putumayo region of his country and it comes from his forthcoming album, Tayta, which could well be worth looking out for. I certainly like the video and the single’s subtle reggaeton cadence.

Bruno Berle: “Manhã”

My word, this guy’s prolific! It hardly seems like yesterday since he released his debut album, and here’s a single from his third, which comes out this summer. Once more, it’s co-produced by Batata Boy, and this single features another collaboration with his acolyte, Nyron Higor. Berle has just embarked on a European tour with a four-piece band to mark the release next month of that third album, Sem Fronteiras. Based on this single, expect nothing unexpected.

Andrés Landero y su Conjunto: “Bailando Cumbia”

Back in time we go now, thanks to the ever-vigilant Vampisoul label, which brings us this authentic slice of rural Colombian cumbia as the A-side of a 7″ single. The two sides were recorded as part of a never-yet-reissued 1979 album for Discos Fuentes. Both are raw and authentic, with no frills attached.

Son Rompe Pera: “Reptilio”

A little late, perhaps, since the single came out at the beginning of May, but better late than never. Recorded in Austin, Texas, home it seems of so much good Tex-Mex music these days, the single hails the Mexico City group’s third album, due later this summer, and poses the question “Who is really running the world?” One might well ask. Personally, I don’t buy the idea that we’re ruled by a breed of super-reptiles, even if there’s certainly something reptilian in the amorality of our great global leaders and their zillionaire pals. Anyway, this is rather splendid.

Sr. Ortegón: “Colombia”

José Miguel “Sr.” Ortegón’s single is “a tribute to Colombians living abroad and to the homeland they carry with them wherever they go”, which is a lovely sentiment. By this token, he suggests, “If there’s something that definitely identifies a Colombian, it’s Cumbia and Vallenato.” Here, he serves all those Colombians living abroad a hearty slice of the latter put through an electronic beater to produce something suitable for clubland. Recorded in Cali, it certainly is “a harmonious blend of contemporary beats and authentic traditional Vallenato music”.

El Remolón and Brawlio: “La Ciencia”

Reggaeton doesn’t normally tick many of my boxes, but here’s a slowed-down version of the genre in which the electronics are used more for atmosphere than beats per minute. According to the Fértil Discos label, the song is “a reflection on pain, ethics, and emotional responsibility, especially when the harm comes from those who claim to be dedicated to caring for others”. Hmmm. This much I can tell you: El Remolón and Brawlio are a pair of Argentine musicians who brought out an album last year entitled Leda y María and they’re very soon to embark on a European tour.

José González: “A Perfect Storm”

Born in Gothenburg, Sweden, to politically active Argentine parents, José González is a respected singer-songwriter and finger-pickin’ acoustic guitarist who has collaborated with the likes of Tinariwen and Zero 7, and who clearly thinks deeply about the predicaments we face. Not only is he a committed atheist and vegan, but he has he pledged 10% of his income to charity via the Giving What We Can organisation. In this apocalyptic video for the single taken from his 5th studio album, Against the Dying of the Light, he warns against society’s application of AI.

Silvana Estrada and pablopablo: “Antes Te Di” (“Before You”)

The Mexican diva described by Dazed as the young “Latin American answer to Joni Mitchell” has won a Latin GRAMMY, headlined this year’s La Linea festival in London and seems to be all-round flavour-of-the-year following her sumptuous album, Vendrán Suaves Lluvias. This single came out in early May and finds her in a duet setting with the young double-barrelled singer who got the idea for the song on a flight from Madrid to Mexico City. The pair then composed it together… and here, ladies and gentlemen, is the rather delicious result.

BALTHVS: “Eternal Flow”

Just time I reckon for another single from those perennial single-makers with the unpronounceable name from Bogotá. “Eternal Flow” is the fourth single from their forthcoming fifth studio album, Manifest, due this autumn. It also apparently celebrates the return of their bassist, Johanna Mercuriana. It’s right up to scratch and bodes well for the album ahead.

I’ll be back sometime in the summer if the heat hasn’t claimed me.

(Photograph of BALTHVS courtesy of the band.)

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