What you need to know:
After three years, Helado Negro is back with “Phasor”, an album in which he shows us once again why he is one of the best artists of the moment.
He groove on Phasor, the project’s new album Black ice (Roberto Carlos Lange), oscillates between a variety of genres reimagined for the current erawith combinations of bossa nova, rock, boleros and very light pop, focusing on romantic ballads.
The retro synthesizers and minimalist percussions form the basis for his warm and gentle voice, sometimes even with a whispered “yes”. a Spanglish combination that will keep you alert and make you smile from time to time.
It’s nothing new that Helado Negro releases a detailed composed and recorded LP, and the two predecessors of pointer They are also fascinating. This is how you smile (2019) and Far inside (2021) are perhaps more direct and with slightly less exploration than the nine titles that 2024 presents.
The clear indication of the effect Phasers of guitar pedals and other instruments, Let us guess that Helado Negro would drown us in its effectsstarting with slight distortions in the voice, echoes and Delays huge and beautiful application Lo-fi throughout the album.
Black ice brings us an ode to life “Phasor” songs
pointer There are “nine songs from heaven, happiness, echo, problems and love,” explains Helado Negro in the short film that accompanies the release of his eighth studio album how he viewed his surroundings to capture them in this magnificent album.
In “Best For You and Me” he repeats “I’ll go outside and look at the moon for too long.” as I reflect on a personal relationship that isn’t going very well. They contrast their problems with beautiful minimalist jazz music featuring Opal Hoyt on piano.
The start, “LFO (Lupe finds Oliveros)”, Is a straight rocker with guitar and bass in which he tells us a short story about getting lost and getting hit by a police officer. The tribute to Pauline Oliveros (electronic pioneer) and Lupe Lopez (Fender amplifier engineer) tells us how two worlds come together in this song and throughout the album.
Contemplative psychedelia of all genres
Without restrictions, Helado Negro composed songs in different genres that have his voice and a psychedelic and mean voice You b what atmosphere pointer complete. Whether with effects or synthetic progressions: Boleros, rock, minimalist jazz, bossa nova and his own pop style have a tonal coherence, even when he changes genre from one song to the next.
With a very clear, dreamlike element throughout the album’s 35 minutes, wraps us in hypnotizing atmospheres, like in the excellent “Out There”, It doesn’t really change, but we can listen to it for hours. The vocal work, along with a tropical bass and synthetic details, make for an emblematic song for this project.
Helado Negro began to observe his own life and his surroundings. Luckily for us, when he found chaos and beauty all around him, he decided to capture it all in these songs that don’t solve his problems, but only reconcile them with the positive that exists in parallel. All this, immersed in an infinite nostalgia that seems exaggerated by the impact of his voice, which, although deep and gentle, expands and repeats in waves of effects.
Minimalist and appropriate instrumentation Black ice
Helado Negro could release an album with just his acoustic guitar and his voice, but These intimate songs are spiced up with synthesizers that sometimes follow the melodic line and sometimes take their own direction. An example of this is “Colors of the Sea” in the one with 4 or 5 elements manages to give us a reflection on the search for love and the search for oneself in front of the sea. The vocal work in which he accompanies himself seems surprising to us, we’ll see how it works live.
In albums like this, the effects used to the maximum seem to be another instrument that fills spaces and creates an atmosphere that takes us into a dream of the creative mind of Roberto Carlos Lange. In pointerA note or chord takes on a life of its own and greater dimension when an effect is added, either to enhance it or to give it a special sound..
Black Ice Cream Gifts pointer in physical versions with a great turquoise vinyl and the classic black edition available in the official store. The American musician will begin a tour of the United States to go to Europe, but We hope to hear this great album from you in Mexico soon, because it will definitely be a lot of fun live..