On the first track Chilean duo Dënver has prepared to introduce us to their new phase, we are confronted with Mariana Montenegro’s vocals. The sound is sparse, with almost no accompaniment at first; then, a heavy digital beat and dark buzzing synths surround her voice and cut through, as though Arca was behind the board. It might be a little surprising, but Dënver has updated their sound and everything feels like they’re flowing in the right direction.
“Noche Profunda” is not only the lead track on the band’s next studio album, Sangre Cita, it also functions as the theme song for the TV series Perdidos En La Noche, based on the real life murder of Daniel Zamudio, a homosexual youth. Milton and Mariana are also responsible for the series’ score, along with producer Pablo Muñoz (De Janeiros, Gargarles).
Milton Mahan had this to say about their involvement with the TV series, “Due in part to how notorious the story became in the media, it was a big challenge. Everybody in Chile has an opinion about [the crime]. It was a subject that needed to be talked about with care, out of respect to [Daniel Zamudio’s] family, and also because the story became a social and political cause, so public opinion is polarized. We thought the script [of the series] was done with a lot of care and good intentions, so we took on the theme song, which we made with our partner and engineer Pablo Muñoz, who we play with in De Janeiros. We joined forces and constructed the [musical] ambience for each part of the story. We never did a narration of the crime or the characters involved, we were conscious that as much as we wanted to get to the truth of the matter, it was not our job to find it.”
Although “Noche Profunda” could seem like a departure for the retro-flavored duo, the vocals are still all them, nodding to the 80s in a way that’s all their own. It might be darker but it’s still banging stuff, and as catchy as music gets. Listen to it right here.