Pan Caliente: Kanaku y El Tigre

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One would assume that the “sophomore slump” or “curse” is pretty much inevitable unless… unless you’re incredibly grounded and have more to offer than just than one stellar flash in the pan album.

It took a 4-year absence and almost a complete disappearance from the spotlight for Kanaku y El Tigre to re-emerge with a determination to be more than just a lot of unfulfilled, blog, hype.

Quema, Quema, Quema“, scheduled for release on June 16, is an album that surpasses all expectations mainly because it does not attempt to recreate their first success.

It is darker, with reverb-filled vocal harmonies, and a tinge of electronic elements that make it feel like the exact counterpart of their cheery folk pop debut. It’s an evolution of the wandering folk that made them blog darlings and remains digestible with catchy hooks and slide guitars to mellow out the gloomy elements.

This album also has a couple songs in English, and surrealist cover art from Argentinian cartoonist Ricardo Liniers that fit very well with the entire vibe of the record.

Their first single, “Bubucelas“, has more instrumentation than most of their previous songs yet it does not feel forced.

There’s an evocative piano and eerie vocals that suck you in and make you want to listen to the song over and over. It’s a clear musical growth and it sounds great!

This is a band that South America needs, simply for the fact that they provide a dynamic to a music scene that flirts quite often with homogeny.