PREMIÉRE: Mente Orgánica Presents New LP Pukllay, Announces Live Release

Led by Bogotá-based producer and multi-instrumentalist Jacobo Polanía, Mente Orgánica returns with Pukllay, a new studio album released via Buenos Aires imprint Fértil Discos: one of the Southern Cone’s most influential hubs for forward-thinking organic electronic music. Known for blending digital sound design with Latin American acoustics, Mente Orgánica now unveils what is arguably his most tactile and human-centred work to date.

After several years working within electronic and machine-driven frameworks, Pukllay was born from what the artist defines as an “uncontrollable creative impulse”: long, unstructured sessions surrounded by ronroco, charango, guitar, upright piano, double bass, bombo legüero, hand-played drums and occasional Moog flourishes. The album breathes with a non-quantised feel and acoustic textures, embracing the imperfections that come from playing without a grid.

Taking its name from the Quechua word “pukllay”, meaning “game” or “carnival”, the album captures a sense of freedom, playfulness and ritual movement. It’s music that feels lived-in and immediate, guided by touch rather than software.

The record mirrors a period of introspection in Jacobo Polanía’s life. After a cycle of collaborations in Bogotá, he stepped back from the intensity and began working almost entirely alone. The resulting soundscape diverges from earlier releases like Ojos or Marinero en Chapinero: it is quieter, rawer, and more deeply rooted in acoustic expression.

Where his previous work blended folklore with downtempo and global bass, Pukllay leans into contemporary acoustic folklore, maintaining the depth of his earlier productions but opening space for breath, texture and silence.

To mark the release of this new record, Mente Orgánica presented the album live just recently at Matik-Matik in Bogotá, one of the city’s most emblematic venues for experimental and exploratory music.

Besides boasting guest appearances by Markendeya (of whose track “Stay in the Light”, ft. Horace Andy and Alex Serra, Jacobo recently released a version), plus Bosque presenting his latest work, this show served as the first step toward the new ensemble he plans to build around the album: a group designed to translate the record’s hand-played, improvisatory spirit to the stage.

Reflecting the album’s shift in the direction of organic spontaneity, each track on Pukllay feels like a small ritual. From the drifting harmonics of “Sué”, the airy propulsion of tracks like “Villa” and “Wayra” and the slow-burning warmth of “Apu”, all gesture toward a dialogue between Andean memory and contemporary exploration. It’s rooted without being nostalgic; experimental without abandoning melody.

This is Mente Orgánica’s most personal statement yet, and a clear signal of the path ahead.

You can stream Pukllay on Fertil Discos’ Bandcamp space:

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