Featured: Shantelle – “Otto y Ana”
Independiente, Mexico
Tijuana’s music scene has always been fascinating, it’s the one town you can always turn to when trying to diversify your color palette or embrace your sinister being. Recently we’ve been a bit too preoccupied with the all-mighty ruidoson and overlooked a few acts that might not be as electrifying as the residents of La Bodega Aragon but are truly worthy of our attention. Some of these artists include Belafonte, Dani Shivers, and Ibi Ego. A couple of weeks ago CF-favorite Orlando introduced us to a song that’s been haunting me since its very first spin. Orlando described them as his favorite Tijuana band and went on to confess that these guys were actually the band that accompanies him in his full-band gigs.
Shantelle is a stirring addition to the line of shoegazing bands (Odio Paris, Las Robertas, Grushenka) that are embracing the fuzzy aesthetic of noise pop. Although Shantelle’s formation dates all the way back to 2003, the 4-piece band is on its way to release their debut album this year. For starters, I’d say the dazzling “Otto y Ana” should do a fine job profiling the band as something more than promising. Otto y Ana are the two main characters in Los Amantes del Circulo Polar, a 1998 cinematic exercise by Spanish filmmaker Julio Medem. Shantelle takes the narrative of a thorny romance to metaphysical proportions. The explorations given to Medem’s initial ideas are of grandiose verbalism, and the band’s instrumental and rhythm machine sequencing is equally thrilling. Even if you know the outcome of the story, when that last refrain shows up, you can’t help but to sing along “salta de la ventana valiente!”