Melenas
Garage-pop four-piece share ‘Primer Tiempo’, final single from upcoming album
Dias Raros out May 8th via Trouble in Mind
Spanish four-piece Melenas have shared ‘Primer Tiempo’, the final single from Dias Raros, released digitally 8th May via Trouble in Mind – the first label to work with the band outside of Spain. Physical orders will now be arriving June 5th.
Pre-order here: http://www.troubleinmindrecs.com/melenas-dias-raros-limited-yellow-vinyl-preorder/
The band swap their guitars for two keyboards for the track, creating a motorik gallop that recalls Neu! and Moon Duo. The vocals and their harmonies evoke Stereolab or Broadcast and the whole ensemble creates a party where everyone would like to be.
The band explain the meaning behind the track: “The song talks about the moment before making a decision, the moment BEFORE EVERYTHING. You are in your bedroom, and you feel there is a fight between your dreams and your desire to make them happen. You walk around your bedroom and you listen to songs that talk about the same feelings that you have, just to encourage yourself to ‘do it, do it, do it, tell that person something now!’ When you finally do it, it works! Later, you will remember that moment, which was the Primer tiempo, the first time.”
The visuals are “a homemade, kind of trashy and slightly psychedelic piece” made from videos recorded by each of the band in their houses. It was been possible thanks to the collaboration of Iker Insausti and Jeffrey Frígula, who edited the clip.
Indie pop quartet Melenas hail from Pamplona, Spain, a picturesque region nestled just south of the Pyrenees. Such beauty can’t help but inform the band’s songwriting, but Melenas aren’t content to just sit placidly & take in the scenery. Since they burst onto the scene in 2016, the band has hit the ground running, playing incessantly both locally & on the stages at national festivals like Primavera Sound & Eurosonic as well as releasing a debut full length (2018’s “s/t” album) and a 7-inch single both triple-released on local labels Elsa, Nebula & Snap! Clap! Club. Trouble In Mind is honored to be releasing their new album Dias Raros and is the first label outside of Spain to release Melenas music to the world.
Dias Raros hums right from the get-go, peppering their garage-pop punch with elements of lysergic dream pop, melancholic indie rock and strident guitar jangle. The album title translates to “Strange Days” an acknowledgement – according to the band – of “…those days where you spend more time inside than outside. Inside your own self, inside your bedroom and your own universe thinking about your wishes, dreams, memories, obsessions or fears.”.
The lyrics – sung entirely in their native Spanish – reference “those interior dialogues where sometimes you fight to escape from a situation, you wonder what another person will be thinking about or feeling, you gotta say goodbye, or you just enjoy the time by yourself. Days that, for different reasons, you’re feeling different, they are strange”. Opener “Primer tiempo” buzzes with an urgent organ drone, unfolding into a yearning ballad of modern guitar-pop bolstered by the group’s lush harmonies & sets the tone for the rest of Dias Raros. Songs like “No puedo pensar” “Trés Segundos” and “Despertar” follow suit, with the rhythm section galloping headlong into an insistent guitar strum, while ballads like the tender “El Tiempo ha Padsado” rely on the band’s melodious voices bolstered by a lilting guitar riff and gentle organ swells.
Elsewhere mid tempo rockers like the stomping “Los alemanes”, the simmering “Ciencia Ficción” and “Ya no es Verano”s insistent jangle recall underground greats like The Pastels, R.E.M. and Shop Assistants. “Vals” (“Waltz”) closes the album in 3/4 time, named for the ballroom dance as well as the last name of a close friend – a dedication to her. Its dreamy sway alluding to classic Brill Building songwriting; dusted with melancholy, but lifted by cascading voices, and organ and guitar waves and guitars that twinkle and shimmer over a cracking backbeat.
Dias Raros is the perfect introduction to a band bursting with promise, confidently inhabiting their own space built upon the foundation of their influences both geographically and culturally, as well as musically.
Tracklist
Primer Tiempo
No Puedo Pensar
29 Grados
Despertar
El Tiempo Ha Pasado
Los Alemanes
3 Segundos
Ciencia Ficción
En Madrid
Ya No es Verano
Vals
No Comments