Né(e): Charly, Alex and Iván
Raíces: Barcelona
Sounds Like…Hot Chip, Caribou, Chicago house, Daft Punk, Gui Borrato, and the unparalleled resilience of Frankie Knuckles’ sets
You should listen to Lasers because…their hard-driving beats and nifty use of vocal samplings will remind you why the dance floor is sometimes referred to as a “church Meet Lasers: Barcelona’s purveyors of smooth house
Longtime fans of Lasers in Spain have seen them morph throughout the years from a guitar-driven trio to bonafide tech-house producers with two successful albums under their collective belt; 2011’s Juno and 2013’s Exchange Levels, both out on Irregular label. Now, we know Barcelona is a breeding ground for DJs and electronic music acts, but what sets Lasers apart from the rest is how carefully they construct and control their sound to step farther away than any other artist from the sounds their city influenced. Their second effort, in fact, sounds like a history lesson on the house that Chicago built. The hand claps, the ethereal choir samples, the R&B-influenced pianos, and the subtle nods to disco form the backbone of Exchange Levels. It’s all mixed in with 21st century sampling and the superb use of minimal synths; as minimal as they will ever get in house. This may sound like their music is a tad cold, but quite the contrary. The arpeggios and melodies built by the band, along with strong collaborators like Merche Blasco, give every song an emotional and complex dimension.