Is there any femme who hasn’t been cut down at the height of their passion? “You take me to a place where maybe/I don’t feel so crazy,” sings Salt Cathedral vocalist Juli Ronderos on the duo’s new single “Caviar.” She looked to cut through the track’s otherwise loving indie lilt with a certain recognizable pain, the lyric comprising a short deviation from an otherwise happy heart love song.
“I really do have this fear that every time I am emotional or upset at being disrespected or mistreated by a man, I am deemed ‘crazy,’” Ronderos said in a press statement. “Calling a woman (or anyone) crazy for being more emotional is not fair, and I’ve so often seen it is used to belittle and invalidate their story.”
The main thrust of the song, however, is not painful reverie but rather a love that doesn’t cost a thing, in the JLo school of anti-materialism. Despite the preponderance of breezy, danceable tracks in the Bogotá-raised group’s recent era, you can see how Salt Cathedral looks to cut holes in its own reverie. Check 2018 track “No Love” for further proof of a flourishing dance track tempered occasionally by more somber philosophic lyrics.
“Caviar” is the lead single heralding the group’s upcoming debut album, which is scheduled to drop in April. The group’s change of labels has led to a rather interminable wait on the new body of work, but Salt Cathedral did mark 2019 with a series of upbeat singles. The run started with an appearance on a track with Nola bounce queen Big Freedia and Jarina DeMarco; the mega-lineup of the exuberantly eclectic “Go And Get It,” and continued through the steel drum-paced “tus ojos.” Hopefully with label woes sorted, the duo will get a chance to finally release a more complete look at their synth pop emotional reach.