Hecuba - Paradise

10 powerful, straightforward songs brimming with synthesizers, strings, horns and melodies that could have been made by no one else. Hecuba's Paradise is a vibrant record with broad strokes and intense details. It is Visual Music that speaks through images. In the song "Miles Away", a group of flutes becomes an ambulance siren. On "Tom & Jerry," a synth smack is a cartoon cat's fist. A dissonant choir embodies a woman's unconscious thoughts in "Extra Connection," and a detached, automated voice morphs into a bare, screaming saxophone in The Magic". As comfortable on the dance floor as in the concert hall, Paradise moves from sparse, introspective moments to harsh, violent crashes and syncopated beats; from Ranchero trumpet blasts to full on orchestral pop, and 50's crooner electro-bop. Even with such a stylistic range and new ideas at every turn, the record remains pure and incisive. The story of Paradise permeates throughout. Miles Away" is an eclectic and fabulously avant garde track complete with African-inspired drums, sirens, cutting synths, and fabulous alliteration. The track continues to build into a fever pitch by the end. To put it bluntly Paradise is fabulously weird and not in an ironic lets-fuck-around-with-keyboards-and-call-it-art kind of way. There is significant thought behind this record. Tough to get a handle on their unique distillation of influences, Hecuba's music is just as at home with Kanye West, Andre 3000 and Roisin Murphy as it is with Herbert, Lucky Dragons and Arthur Russell. Hecuba is Isabelle Albuquerque and Jon Beasley. They were first recognized for their powerful and fearless live performances. In 2008, Hecuba released “Sir”, an EP where the duo inhabited the archetypal roles of cat and mouse (Tom & Jerry) caught in an endless cycle of romance and violence. Sir concluded  with a whacked-out remix by Lucky Dragons & appeared in many college radio charts, year-end lists and DJ crates. They have toured with Devendra Banhart, Rainbow Arabia and Lucky Dragons and were featured at the Whitney Museum in NYC in early 2008. The new album showcases a slicker sound and broader production range courtesy of the Chicago beat-maker Butchy Fuego. They will be touring the US with Bat for Lashes and eventually making to the UK in late 2009/early 2010. They are currently in production on a series of extroardinary music videos with Devendra Banhart, an ambitious remix project, and a collaborative Sci-fi opera involving emerging technology.

Tracklisting: Paradise/ Even So/ Miles Away/ La Musica/ Extra Connection/ Tom & Jerry/ Everything/ Suffering/ The Magic/ Humanize

Be the first to review this record. Best reviewer each month gets £10 off their next order!