Watch: Salt Cathedral - "Fields"

Brooklyn fivesome Salt Cathedral (formerly known as Il Abanico) have been making big waves as of late. Today marks the release of their self-titled EP, the first collection of new music since their name change earlier this year and it's full of those tropical beat inflected experimental pop rock jams. Case in point: "Fields"

The beautifully shot video, directed by SoftSpot's Sarah Kinlaw, features the shuffling glistening jam along with a rather unique story of a man in love with the ocean. In his home he has actresses put on a little puppet show before deciding that simply won't do and embarking out in the wilds of the world in a sort of low budget Hazmat suit to experience it himself. The video is the perfect blend of stunning, kind of weird, and slightly confusing that it just works. All the while it features Salt Cathedral vocalist Juliana Ronderos' fluttering bird song like vocals that soar high above the track's intricate psychedelic beat-intensive grooves.



You can now purchase Salt Cathedral's 5 song EP digital or on vinyl which I highly recommend here.

Listen: Salt Cathedral - "Take Me To The Sea"

Yesterday I introduced you to Brooklyn-based Colombian band Il Abanico and just a couple hours after the band changed their name to Salt Cathedral. Named after the Catedral de Sal de Zipaquira of core songwriters' Juliana Ronderos and Nicolas Losada's homeland as a (hopefully) far memorable and easier to pronounce alternative, the name change also came with a bit of good news. The newly minted Salt Cathedral dropped their first new podt-name change single and it's glorious.

Establishing a whispy air with Juliana Ronderos mostly unaccompanied vocals before the tropical-inspired beats make themselves known, the track features a rather incredible build up. Each instrument - to the restrained drums, to the skittering progressive rock-recalling guitar riffs, combines together without overwhelming Ronderos' plaintive pleas or dislodging  the rather otherworldly atmosphere she invoked since het initial entrance. It's everything the band's known for (i.e. their incredibly clear melodic lines and balance) and then some. A brilliant debut single from Salt Cathedral.

Pitstop: Il Abanico

It really says something when an opening band can captivate a whole room and will them into movement. Especially in a cynic city of discontent non-movers like New York City. And yet that's exactly what Brooklyn  by way of Bogota fivesome Il Abanico did at their most recent gig opening for Freelance Whales with Hundred Waters.



In a city where indie rock is the norm and hundreds of bands are pumping out things that sound incredibly similar to music that already exists, a band like Il Abanico is a revelation. Intricate and precise with ever-clear tight-knit grooves; tropical-infused percussion, and a intense sense of musicality that seems to burst out of vocalist Juliana Ronderos, Il Abanico are one of those all too rare bands that absolutely must be experienced live. Their live set leagues ahead of their only record: the Crossing Colors EP. Live, Ronderos takes on the daredevil-esque insistence of Raphaelle Standell-Preston of BRAIDS (particularly in "Plath Heart") or SoftSpot's Sarah Kinlaw. The band flittering away at breakneck speeds while maintaining a pristine clarity. Each member's path brightly illuminated; completely unobscured.

And yet despite the impressiveness of the band's pyrotechnic displays of virtuosity, Ronderos remains the group's emotional core. Providing a focus through the blustering stream of notes and drum hits and adding to the spirited technical maelstrom with a vivacious energy of her own. Here's hoping on their next record, Il Abanico can channel the showmanship and tight-rope-walk risk taking of their live set because anything less than that undersells the absolutely incredible band to those that should be into them. If not, at least we'll have have the live shows.