SIKU

Description

In 2015, Nicola Cruz changed the game with his debut album Prender El Alma. With his new album, Siku, the Franco-Ecuadorian producer continues his fascinating exploration of sounds and cultures from around the world, articulated through his fascination with electronic music. He transplants his knowledge into expressive sound pieces that blend earthy textures with electronic tones. This second album is an opportunity for Nicola Cruz to broaden his horizons beyond South America by exploring a rich palette of sounds from around the globe. On "Siete" and "Obsidiana," Hindu harmonies adorn raw percussion. On "Okami," a colorful jazzy vibraphone creates a vaporous and alluring atmosphere that captures the rainy night during which the track was recorded. As for the album's final track, "Esu Enia," composed in collaboration with the Portuguese Marcio Pinto, it is rooted in the raw power of the African balafon. Nicola does not neglect the sounds of his home continent, which is immediately evident in the opening track "Arka," as well as in "Hacia Delante" with its Colombian cumbia rhythms, or in the poetic "Criançada," sung in Portuguese with Brazilian samba melodies and rhythms. Nicola's entire work is approached with a high level of experimentation and sound design, and what is clearly evident is his ability to make you move, whether it’s your soul, with mystical and airy songs, or your body, with tracks that could escape from club speakers in the early hours of the morning. This is all found in Siku.