Review of ‘Caribenya’, the new work by Lido Pimienta
There is a tendency to identify musical ambition with complexity. As if an artist can only advance by adding new layers of sound. After the exuberant orchestral framework of ‘The Beauty’ (25), ‘Caribbean’, Initially conceived as a B-side of that work, it ends up finding its own identity. In eight songs and just over half an hour, it shifts the center of gravity towards cumbia and folktronica. And although it may seem like a simplification of his proposal, it shows that the movement also maintains a discourse.
The transformation is clear from “Lull me”. The opening preserves the solemnity of their previous work for a few minutes, before breaking it with percussion that sets the course of the album. From there, it finds its language in folk electronic music, where tradition coexists with a contemporary sound treatment. “Toxic” introduces cumbiero rhythms by dividing the song in two, while “Dragon-fly”built around a pan flute, reinforced by the voice of Ana Macho and produced by Chancha Vía Circuito, summarizes a signature cumbia that never ends up sounding predictable.
Many of the songs began to take shape in the kitchen of his house, between everyday life and family conciliation. That spontaneity runs through the entire album, which dispenses with excess to build a much more immediate repertoire. Its best moments come when that formal search also supports the discourse. “Today For You”, Together with Nelly Furtado singing in Spanish, she finds a natural balance between a lowered cumbia and the feminist discourse that runs through the album.
“Tide” It is what concentrates its core. On a basis articulated by steel drums and a futuristic production, Lido Pepper confronts the tourist imaginary that for decades has reduced the Caribbean to an exotic setting while reflecting on the displacement of its communities. He does so without turning the song into a manifesto: the movement continues to occupy the center. Also “I don’t want to leave” shares that ability to turn resistance into celebration.
Not all compositions reach the same level. “This is how I was born”for example, introduce a base downtempo and a vocal treatment that is too close to that cinematic pop that could have signed any Disney film.
Without achieving the avant-garde impact of ‘Miss Colombia’ (20) nor the meticulous work of ‘The Beauty’ (25), Lido Pepper confirms that he continues to find new ways to rethink Latin American folklore. This time not from orchestral exuberance, but from movement.
