You were just going about your business today when traaaaaa: Dengue Dengue Dengue decided to drop a new single from their sophomore album Siete Raíces, slated to drop on June 24. Now you’re swirling through a languid beat, evidence that the group is evolving its beloved electro cumbia catalog.
The single marks the first time that DDD has worked vocals into a track. “Guarida” (the title means “hideout”) features Sara Van, a Peruvian singer whose parents brought her to Madrid in Peru’s economic collapse during the 1990s. Her lyrics lounge over the beat, disappearing into melodic hmmms here and there as the background chords come through.
The psychedelic electro cumbia duo, comprised of Felipe Salmon and Rafael Pereira, pick up other genres like cards — minimal techno, anyone? — integrating them into a cumbia that will probably always be at the foundation of their work. Their music is like a spaceship that takes off from that metaphysical space where Lima meets the Amazons, with no layovers before it reaches the cosmos for a real cute house party in some faraway star system. Salmon and Pereira’s concert flair is magical, colorful masks that echo the music’s fantasy as they pull from the same aesthetics as artist A.J. Fosik’s work.
This trajectory has hit hard on global dancefloors. Their 2012 album La Alianza Profana took Salmon and Pereira from DJ favorites to underground darlings. No telling where Siete Raíces will spirit the pair. Judging from the title – an homage to a Peruvian alcoholic drink fermented from various jungle plants – Dengue Dengue Dengue is envisioning it as yet another ticket to a distant galaxy for their fans. The pair just made the leap from producing into songwriting — you should use this music to conjure new heights, too.
Siete Raíces will drop on June 24, 2016 via Enchufada Records.