Barda is the moniker of composer and guitar player Cecilia Gebhard, who previously released EPs Cortina de Montañas (2013) and Arena (2014), via the Regional label. Her Fértil-endorsed Gruta venture is a series of seven low-pitched and expansive tracks that serve as an interpretation of her connection with the ancestral energies inherent in her neo-folkloric sound, while adding minimalistic digital edges.
Gruta comes as one of the first releases from Fértil, a new Buenos Aires-based digital label and cooperative art community, spearheaded by ZZK vet El Remolón with the collaboration of other seminal Argentine talent like Chancha Via Circuito, and newer names on the scene like Lulacraza, SidiRum, San Ignacio, Jin Yerei, and Tropikal Ravers.
The album, which Gebhard described as a “journey through Argentinian fictional caverns and stages,” provides a meditative series of reverberating, looming images anchored by the ukulele, güiro, and classic cumbia signifiers. Standout track “Nudo de Árbol” brings vocalist Wenceslada into the mix, while didgeridoo player Yoco Perez de Arce leads us into the album with “Gruta,” beginning the journey into the journey of Gebhard’s imagination, eventually leading out of the echoing series of caves with tripartite track “Prismas en la montaña.”
As a Remezcla exclusive, Barda is sharing an intimate video profile that documents her environmental inspirations, and the natural evolution of the collaborative nature of the project, providing a glimpse into the process to help us understand the enigmatic album.