Review Las Áñez Paralelas
Continuing their exploration of the voice and duality, Las Añez are back with their fourth full-length record, Paralelas, which ventures closer to the mainstream but digests it through the twins’ ever curious ears and the creativity of their eclectic set of collaborators.
The album was produced by Latin Grammy-winner and guitarist, Andrés Leal and bolerista and Opa! Collective member, Miguel Rico, and recorded at Bogotá’s La Capital studio.
The artwork plays with the twins’ lifelong theme of reflection and symmetry, with paper dresses designed by their mother, costume designer Karin Rothmann.
Las Añez open the record with the light-reggaeton hit, “De Curvo Cuerpo”, which became a modern feminist hymn in Colombia after its release last year on 8th March, International Women’s Day.
Recorded shortly after “De Curvo Cuerpo”, “Como Si Fuera Yo” is another more electronic collaboration between fellow Colombian songwriter and artist, Lido Pimienta, and the duo, who have so far focused on traditional acoustic instruments from South America.
The next two tracks showcase piano and vocal harmonies, with “Canción de Amor” (pointedly the duo’s first ever love song) incorporating playful electronic production clearly based in classical traditions but evoking early Disney musicals and vintage games consoles. There are flute-like flutters, sexy synth runs and moments of heavy beat. There’s a lot going on here and it melds like arrequipe under the tongue.
Paralelas also features the 2022 single “Señal del Viento”, a trippy folk track with llanero great Cholo Valderrama, which has been nominated as Best Folkloric Song at the Nuestra Tierra Awards.
“Flores Secas” plays with percussion and voice, using pitching effects at the end, spiralling out with faint screeching flutes that seem to oscillate into space.
“Pasaron los Días” positions itself towards folk-rock, featuring early-2000s guitar riffs, epic drums, haunting keys and harmonies and jazzy transitions. It’s the duo’s first rock latinoamericano release and does not disappoint. The track was recorded with Bogotano roquero instrumentalists drummer Felipe Acero (Gabotone, Juan Pablo Vega), guitarist Juan Francisco Rincón (ha$lopablito, Delfina Dib, Juliana) and bassist Rodrigo Tenjo (Sebastian Yepes, Juan Pablo Vega, César López).
This gift is tied with a ribbon waving in the breeze, a pared-back, acoustic snippet of “De Curvo Cuerpo” fashioned as an outro. As much as Las Áñez are becoming a household name in Bogotá and other parts of the country and beyond (with listeners in Chile, Mexico and Spain), and although they may have ventured out of their comfort zone on this more daring and adventurously-produced album, here Las Añez and friends humbly bring you back to their living room, reminding us of their process and sense of fun.
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