Corporate media consultants in the music industry always keep a steady eye on independent music. It is one way to predict where music as art and as a financial enterprise is going. The vanishing of the physical record is hitting some of Latin America’s most established indie acts pretty bad. Indie labels have struggled to fund the release of physical albums, killing much of the traditional experience of listening to music through a record. For over a decade, Argentine band Entre Ríos kept a modest but sustainable method of production and distribution. Upon the band’s release of their latest album Era, Entre Ríos also announced the sad news of their departure. Although many of us would question the band’s ability to adapt to the new decade, no one can deny Entre Rios is walking out with their heads high and with an extraordinary discography.
The new wave of Latin American indie romanticizes the physical format as much as the artists from the 2000s, but Carreras is right at claiming this change in pop culture as a generational conversion. This brand new video from album standout “Paraná” shows singer Romina D’angelo wearing a luchador costume as she embarks to new lands singing “a naufragar te invito” (“I invite you to the shipwreck”). The clip by Juan Poclava keeps things simple, but succeeds in embedding its adventurer in the beautiful landscapes between El Tigre (a delta town in Argentina) and the multinational Paraná River. Era is a beautiful last voyage to subtle melodies, personal songcraft, and folk-afflicted charm.