– GUERRILLA WARFARE –

I’ve got to be honest here and tell you that Daymé Arocena has released a stone-cold classic of an album.

I mean, you’d expect little else from the smiling assassin behind the superbly subversive Cubafonia (2017) – itself an exploration of Cuban-jazz crossover that defied definition.

But, with new release Sonocardiogram she has delivered something that twins the ambition of Esperanza Spalding with the melodic prowess of Melody Gardot and the sheer, raw power of Aretha Franklin.

It is, frankly, breath-taking.

I nearly selected practically every song to review at varying times this week but settled on Para El Amor: Cantar! for two reasons. First, although it is musically one of the more straight-forward tracks on the album, it also has the best hook of them all. That bit in the chorus where she just belts out the ‘Na, na, na’s” is absolute gold.

And the second reason is that she’s been featuring some behind-the-scenes films (of which, the above is one) on her YouTube channels which are 100% worth watching and … Cantar is the song features first on the above.

It is a track that conveys hope, happiness and all-round good vibes. ‘For love; sing!’ commands the song’s title and, with melodies like this how could you not have a song in your heart?

Sonocardiogram is out now through Brownswood Recordings.

MORE FROM THIS WEEK’S MIX

JULIEN CHANG: OF THE PAST
SNARKY PUPPY: EMBOSSED
ROBERTO FONSECA: AGGUA
KEVIN HAYS & LIONEL LOUEKE: AZIZA

P.S. You can find all of the tracks reviewed above in the 45 Revolutions per Minute playlist below or click to access the 45 RPM Playlist on Spotify itself.

If you like what you hear (or even if you don’t), please engage in dialogue with me @45rpm_Reviews on Twitter. And, if you’d like to receive updates weekly, please subscribe to the email list to get these recommendations sent to your inbox weekly.

– SV –