As honest singers go, Madrid’s Remate is a cut above the rest. With seven different collections under his folky belt, he’s coming back with an ambitious and somewhat precarious album, titled Superluv. Por Lo Que Tiene De Romántico (Everlasting Records, 2011). Superluv is ripe with concept, inspired by the Mary Luvs, Summer Luvs, and Iris Luvs of the world. The porn world that is. Remate was sparked by adult film actresses and their modern-day misspelling of the word “love,” used as their Internet nom de plumes. It stands out as an ode to sexuality, interpersonal relationships, and easily collapsable emotions, a tension you hear in “Por lo que tiene de romántico,” whose “Private Dancer” style video (below) is almost as naughty as any late-night viewing of Deep Throat, but with its poetry still intact. Ballerina pole grinding never looked so beautiful (Remate, on the other hand, should chill with the Serpico look).
The bearded crooner worked with producer LD Beghtol, also a musical and visual collaborator on The Magnetic Fields’ 69 Love Songs, to produce 14 tracks of unflinching, beautiful effect. And the face of the Fields himself, Stephin Merritt, makes an appearance, having recorded vocals and ukelele from his Hollywood home.
Below you’ll find the first single off Superluv, “Gigante,” a faster-paced proclamation of hand claps, twinkles, and jangles, with assertions of “Hazme una señal y me convertiré en un gigante/ Hazme una señal y me convertiré miserable.” Some songs sound like love, others like lust. But they all produce an equally warm embrace to your ears.
Download Remate’s “Gigante” in anticipation of February and ponder all the different ways to spell “love.”
