I’ve been following Ponce since the MySpace golden era. He’s ditched a lot of his projects ever since, but I think this time he’s finally found his niche after years of personal music evolution. For the first time, Ponce is using Spanish and, so far, it’s pretty great.
Don’t get me wrong though. This guy has great credentials (Timmy & The Monsters and Ghostcatcher). And although his lyrics are in Spanish, his obscure and gloomy musical characteristics are still there, as well as his existentialism (he talks about death, life, and what’s beyond it).
El Muerto is Ponce’s first EP (featuring the title song and three remixes), produced by NWLA. Again, the obscure presence is there, but more musical elements are to be heard: a soft tribal base is accompanied by industrial strikes every now and then that nicely melt together with the lyrics. Producers Loucet, Adrian Be, and MATE complete this first work with a variety of remixes that go from an easy-listening kinda thing to a break beat and house one, but finishes with a drop of juke and IDM.
Viejo is the name of Ponce’s upcoming LP, out this summer, and El Muerto is just a first glimpse of what will undoubtedly be a great album.