It’s finally in our hands, after that appetizer of “Mr. Shoji” (danceable hit with Jamaican airs, Rockdelux magazine’s best song of 2009), the highly anticipated second disc by SINGLE, the group led by Teresa Iturrioz and Ibon Errazkin.
Anyone who knows the cult-following they had fronting LE MANS will find some clues on this disc that connect this mythical past to the splendorous future that has opened up before them with this new project. If “Pío Pío”, SINGLE’s first album, was a collecting of songs written over a period of years, experimenting with new formats, rhythms and programs, and forging a new path with their untiring curiosity, “Monólogo interior” is a more classic and compact album, without a conceptual story but definitely with a more intimate focus, even introspective on occasions. The album has an abundance of images that evoke feelings of loss and nostalgia and it is less decidedly rhythmic.
That doesn’t mean that the fun, danceable rhythms that were part of what made the first disc so spectacular have been put to the side: there’s the dreamy, orchestral rhythm of “Fotos”, the futuristic tango of “Oda a los negros”, Latin vibes of “Gracias a la vida” and the frenetic instrumentals of “Monólogo interior” (the song). But, in this case, the rhythms shed their sophistication in order to embrace a more retro sound, from a vintage beatbox, that contrasts perfectly with the futuristic keyboard and synthesizer arrangements. Especially with the galactic synths included by Genís Segarra (ASTRUD, HIDROGENESSE) in almost all of the songs on the disc, profiling the personality of each song with details dignified to be by Jean-Jacques Perrey, by Joe Meek or other more contemporary cybernetic dreamers like ISAN.
