Austin-based electronic duo Boan have finally released their highly-anticipated debut album Mentiras via Holodeck Records. The album is full of poppy coldwave that will surely grow their already solid cult following. Seasoned artists Mariana Saldaña and José Cota have fallen into a special kind of groove, one in which Saldaña’s darkly romantic vocals sit comfortably atop Cota’s particularly angular style of minimal synth and beat arrangements.
Rising out of the Austin electronic scene, the strength of this duo comes from constant experimentation with the genres they pool from. Saldaña and Cota were two thirds of the now-defunct minimalist new wave and synthpop act Medio Mutante. Their cohesion shows with each track on the album.
“Babylon,” the album opener, is a simple track that will haunt you. Saldaña repeats the title of the song, drenched in reverb over Cota’s half-step beat and catchy-as-hell synth lines. “Freak Snake” sounds like a lost B-side that Boan ghostwrote for Frank Black. It’s the perfect preamble for “Secretos,” a ballad-like confessional where Saldaña pours her heart out about hiding secrets. Boan sound very comfortable in their skin and it shows. This one could be one of 2015’s best.