Nicola Cruz — Prender El Alma

Includes CD / Gatefold / Limited vinyl LP pressing. 2015 release. Following his collaboration with Nicolas Jaar's Clown & Sunset label, Ecuadorian-based producer Nicolá Cruz has self-produced and self-recorded this landmark album. Influenced by new digital technology, blended with local culture, Cruz builds his tracks layer by layer, instrument by instrument, drum by drum, exploring local indigenous and Afro-cosmologies in a modern setting - using homeland traditions and rhythms to build on a vibrant history of visual and sonic art, catapulting them into the 21st century. The results of which will easily apply to fans of John Talabot, Romare, Clap! Clap! And Nicolas Jaar. / Prender el Alma’ is a new strain of Latin American music Cruz calls ‘Andes Step’. Influenced by new digital technology, blended with local influence, Cruz builds his tracks layer by layer, instrument by instrument, drum by drum, exploring local indigenous and Afro-cosmologies in a modern setting. From atmospheric opener ‘Sanacion’, the 10-track album journeys through short, sharp acoustic guitar riffs on ‘Puente Roto’ and the percussive ‘La Mirada’, to the electronic ‘Prender el Alma’. Down-beat ‘Equinoccio’ gets a vocal kick from Ecuadorian singer Huaira, ending with the blissful, lo-fi ‘Cocha Runa’ featuring Tanya Sanchez. ‘Prender el Alma’ ebbs and flows through a range of production of local sounds, feeling like a digital awakening.