Imaabs‘ redefinition of club music continues to reach new global heights, thanks to his visionary use of Latin American rhythms, punishing metallic timbres, and penchant for narrative. The Chilean producer’s voracious appetite for underground styles and meticulous production style have found him releasing works on labels like NAAFI, Trax Couture, and Diamante.
Today he unveils Extravío, a new three-track single featuring fellow Chileans Lia Nadja on vocals and Felicia Morales on strings. The machine-gun dembow riddims, ethereal wails, and deconstructed classical arrangements of “Extravío” create an unsettling eerieness, as the acoustic and electronic elements of the track coalesce. Imaabs sounds adventurous yet in control, fully cognizant of how each element should overlap. His songwriting abilities shine here; each element is offered the space to breathe and move freely without losing the listener. Nadja’s vocals are expressive and haunting, but never to a fault. Morales’ string arrangements arrive at the half mark, almost as if the song’s deconstructed dembow cast a spell on her.
“Extravío” was released earlier this year through the Chilean edition of Red Bull Music Academy Bass Camp, but the single also includes a new track titled “Mordaza,” a similarly spectral and tenebrous production. The single closes out with a remix of “Extravío” from M.E.S.H.
With so much reworking and re-encoding of identities, styles, and genres going on, it’s refreshing to see such a robust production from a bright artist like Imaabs.