Sixteen-year-old Tijuana producer Grenda left a great impression on us in 2015, thanks to his notable debut EP Living Right, and to his brilliant live show at festivals like the last edition of Mutek.Mx. He’s one of the Mexican artists scheduled to perform at this year’s Festival Nrmal, so we were wondering if he was working on debuting any new music there – and he is. Grenda is releasing his debut album on Static Discos in early March, titled Untouchable Skin. We’ve got an exclusive preview of one of its tracks.
On “Element of Risk,” Eduardo Amezcua offers a further display of his love for hip-hop. But he gives it the special Grenda beautification treatment that makes it so wonderfully pop. There’s plenty of reverb here, but it hits harder than his previous work, and it’s maintained over the course of the track with little variation. The synth melody is irresistibly catchy without becoming repetitive. Amezcua’s boyish vocals kick in a third of the way through the song; he sings about taking risks today because tomorrow is uncertain. As he explains, “What I wanted was something strong and emotional, so I created this song towards the end [of recording], to give my new record that very mood.”
He also recently dropped a music video for another album cut called “Run.” The dream-trap track is a collaboration with fellow Tijuana band Mint Field (fun fact: Amor, his sister, is the drummer). Dreams, memory, and technology are the main subject of the seven-minute video, which runs like a sci-fi short film, and features both the band and Amezcua performing.
Untouchable Skin is out March 7 on Static Discos. Be sure to check out Grenda at this year’s Festival NRMAL.