Love is perhaps the most complex of emotions. According to clichés, it can build us up and bring us down, it can keep us together, can break your heart, etc. There are many songs that try to explain what love feels like, and most of the time, many fail to do so. That doesn’t take away from the fact that love songs are some of the most prevalent forms of art we have and can be very powerful expressions of the human condition. In our current global situation, we sure could use a great love song to get us through the day.
As far as attempts at synthesizing love in song form, Helado Negro and Xenia Rubinos’ duet, “I Fell In Love,” hits the mark. Roberto Carlos Lange has blessed us with a track that distills the romantic feeling into an alien but pleasant sound. “I Fell In Love” is pure Helado Negro: fluttering electronics, like butterflies in your stomach, and whispering drums pulsing in your ear; Lange’s warm vocals deliver lyrics like “Spaceship shaped words fly through your world unheard” in honeyed melodies. Rubinos’ presence kicks the song to another dimension, giving us a verse that’s smooth and nostalgic; and when both of them sing together, they approach mythological transcendence.
“I Fell In Love” follows This Is How You Smile, the 2019 Helado Negro album where he previously collaborated with Rubinos on “Echo For Camperdown Curio.” Lange has also been busy working on Kite Symphony, a collaboration with artist Kristi Sword that involves sound, visuals, sculpture, and the West Texas landscape. Rubinos, on the other hand, has been sporadically popping up with one-offs like XENIA2020, and tracks “Diosa” and “Bugeisha,” while we await the follow-up to her stellar 2016 album, Black Terry Cat.
If this is not the sound of love, it’s quite close to the real thing. Listen to “I Fell In Love” and get lost in the feeling.