Pies Sobre La Tierra

Highest recommendation: play this! Debut album by this cellist/singer/composer from Guatemala, based in Mexico City. Startlingly powerful songwriting crossing over into electroacoustic soundscapes, masterful and haunting and uncommonly beautiful. Every song develops in an organic way, every choice feels perfect and unforced, and the music pushes stylistic boundaries without ever feeling dry. RIYL Arthur Russell, Ian William Craig, Dead Can Dance, 4AD and Touch artists generally. Favorites: 1, 3, 5, 7. All lyrics in Spanish, no FCCs detected.

1. *(6:42)—Long intro, major key cello melody, grand and triumphant. High, processed, Ian William Craig-type vocals enter in the second half.
2. (4:04)—Instrumental. Echoing, percussive cello line strongly reminiscent of Arthur Russell. Staticky textures. Heavy second half.
3. *(4:01)—Faster, Steve Reich-type cello melody. Hair-raisingly beautiful singing. Sci-fi synth melody.
4. (2:29)—Soft drone textures, slow synth chords, chopped-up vocals with autotune.
5. *(4:32)—The single. Minimal beginning, slow plucked cello. Blown-out vocal melody on the chorus. Builds. "Sin saber aterricé en un jardín."
6. (2:43)—Instrumental. Starts loud, with a full and intense cello solo. Ends in cello drone.
7. *(5:03)—Eerie, majestic, not far from Dead Can Dance's "Host of the Seraphim." Whooshing electronics, deep bass. Mournful cello, vocals that sound like Lisa Gerrard through lots of effects.
8. (2:52)—Minor key, dark and unsettled. Lots of reverb on the cello, Fennesz-type noise textures.