Former Bomba Estéreo guitarist Julián Salazar and percussionist Franklin Tejedor are bringing back their futuristic jungle-techno project Mitú with a new album, two years after releasing their four-track EP Siempre. Taking a more measured approach to the recording process than on their previous two albums, the duo let their ideas simmer for a longer period of time until they developed all the flavors that comprise Cosmus, which also marks their first work on Argentine imprint ZZK Records. Staying true to their live setup, they came up with (almost) all electronic compositions for the album, exemplified through their first single, “Fiebre.”
For “Fiebre,” Mitú got some support from an old collaborator, Palenque singer and Las Alegres Ambulancias member Teresa Reyes, and her voice overflows with red-blooded emotion. She is the heart of the song, breathing life into the lyrics in which she warmly compares her lover to the sun. “Para mí/no hay sombra/Para mí/tú eres mi sol,” she sings in the chorus.
From its driving Afro-inspired beat, enriched with structured techno sequences and spot-on percussion fills by Salazar, to its sticky hook played on a mutant flute-synth, the instrumentals here share the limelight with Reyes.
Mitú kindly shared an exclusive playlist with us, made up of songs that influenced them while they were recording Cosmus, including tracks by electronic heavyweights like Underworld and Autechre, experimental beatsmiths Teebs and Cuthead, electro/coldwave outfit Light Asylum, and The Beatles. With a diverse mix like this one, our expectations are now sky high.
Cosmus is out on August 25 through ZZK Records.