Two years after breaking out with his saturated, EFX-heavy San Benito EP via NON Records, Argentine artist and HiedraH Club de Baile affiliate Moro is returning with a new four-track EP. On it, his distinctive “Ramba” sound – which he’s defined as “the mixture of Argentinian/Uruguayan/Cuban and all the rhythms that share the same DNA,” like clave – evolves, as he floats between fearless club deconstructions and pop mutations.
Irrelevant, coming up on German label JANUS on May 4, was recorded between Buenos Aires and Berlin, displaying the fragmentation and self-doubt that emerged following Moro’s move to Europe in 2017. “I moved to Berlin while some really dark, government-related events were taking place [in Argentina] and throughout last year my only way to know about what was going on there was to read a huge number of newspapers, talk with lots of friends, watch Instagram stories, read Facebook posts, tweets, etc.,” he tells Remezcla over email. “I feel that this huge number of voices got into my own thoughts and into my own doubts about myself and my surroundings (as someone who just moved 12,000 km away from home) and it ended up in me making this EP, which is basically me exposing my own doubts.”
The EP’s closing track “Xxandi,” premiering exclusively here on Remezcla, is arguably Moro’s most beautiful musical moment to date. A mutant bolero is processed with percussive, celestial chopped-down samples and gliding synths. But the vocals are the true center of the track, as they ride melodies that shoot straight to the heart. Lyrics like “¿Qué voy a hacer contigo?/¿Qué voy a hacer con vos?,” let the EP’s core themes of doubt shine through.
Moro elaborates on the sense of doubt that permeates the project. “I couldn’t even decide between individual instruments for harmonies and felt that what fit best was to make them out of tiny bits of different sounds to try and form some sort of picture of what was going on in my mind.” One thing’s for sure: there isn’t a shred of doubt about how stunning the end result is.
Irrelevant is out on May 4 through JANUS.