Despite the many challenges of producing timely, meaningful work over the unfolding Coronavirus pandemic, and the seemingly endless 2020 obstacle race, Mexico’s effervescent wave of folk pop ingenues have managed to remain impressively active. Angel-voiced singer-songwriter Arroba Nat released a new EP back in May, while geeky guitar-pop romantics Sr. Trigger have been promoting a string of angsty singles over the past few months. Meanwhile, in April, shapeshifting Chihuahua, Mexico enfant terrible Dromedarios Mágicos dropped his much anticipated sophomore album SUBCAMPEÓN, also finding time to experiment with an ethereal new project called Ánimo. Rounding out the scene releases is Daniel Quién, the rising Sinaloa crooner with a penchant for cinematic storytelling who now unveils “Lo Supe De Tí,” the dreamy first cut from his upcoming album A Estas Horas Del Amor.
Quién has garnered much buzz over the past year, signing to Universal Music back in April and taken under the wing of meteoric folk superstar Ed Maverick, who invited him to come on stage at Vive Latino and enlisted him for his latest single “Nos Queda Mucho Dolor Por Recorrer.” But while walking the tenuous line of sharing a major spotlight or being overshadowed by Maverick’s immense following, Quién has focused on developing his own voice and songwriting signature. Early cuts like “Aroma A Nostalgia” and “Corazón Que Late Polvo” are evocative slices of acoustic melodrama, while his latest offering in “Lo Supe De Tí” is a cheeky ode to long-distance love steeped in lighthearted psychedelia.
“Lo Supe De Tí” is dedicated to Quién’s longtime girlfriend, reminiscing on the time they’ve spent apart while he embarks on tours and prolonged recording engagements. “Contigo supe que la distancia separa cuerpo, no corazón,” he coos over reverb-heavy guitar strums and backed by Sonoran singer Caro Valenzuela. He also quotes Kenji Miyazawa’s fantasy novel “Night On the Galactic Railroad,” about finding love in a partner-in-crime with whom to traverse the expanse of the Milky Way.
The track is produced by multi-instrumentalist studio whiz Miguel Bayón and accompanied by an intimate, lo-fi music video directed by Señor Kino frontman Karl Neudert, which was shot in a desert valley on the outskirts of Hermosillo. The swirling mix of Neudert’s psychedelic editing effects, Bayón’s playful synths and textured guitars and Quién’s disarming earnestness ultimately coalesce into a delightful hybrid of Sufjan-esque yearning and the colorful elation of a Studio Ghibli soundtrack.