This past October, Torreblanca, one of the most innovative indie bands in Mexico’s rich musical palate released their U.S. album debut through Nacional Records with their latest album, El Polvo en la Luz.
El Polvo en la Luz was produced by none other than Quique Rangel from Café Tacvba and engineered by Hector Castillo, who has worked with the likes of Philip Glass, Bjork, David Bowie and many others.
The album is a sweet and unpredictable journey, with songs that showcase the incredible vocal range of the band’s lead singer, Juan Manuel Torreblanca. Known in Mexico for their passionate live performances, Torreblanca now bring their progressive, critically acclaimed sound to the US for the first time.
According to their facebook bio, Torreblanca’s music is described as “post-pop (or alternative pop-rock with symphonic touches; weird, intimate, thinking, profound and playful lyrics)” and I think this description gets pretty close to what you will hear on this new album El Polvo en la Luz.
The album El Polvo en la Luz shows a musical process that continues a constant evolution and maturation that began in 2010 with the release of the EP Defensa, which yielded three singles in Mexico and it began to make some noise for the band. 2011, saw the release of their second recording and first full length album, Bella Epoca, which was also produced by Quique Rangel.
Torreblanca is one of those bands that have increased their popularity through word of mouth after their riveting performances in festivals, including Pasadena’s Make Music Festival and in their own shows. Although, El Polvo en la Luz is very much a studio album with great attention to production details, at the same time, it also have a very lively energy that rivals that energy the band is able to produce on stage.
El Polvo en la Luz is one of those albums that one can enjoy from beginning to end instead of today’s custom of skipping to the next good song. The first single and video chosen from this album is the song “1000 Fantasmas”, which I think was a great choice as it very well represents the sound of the album going from haunting piano chords to urgent drum beats and bass lines to guitar and keyboard crescendos.
El Polvo en la Luz is available on iTunes and Spotify.
