Experimental artist and composer Mabe Fratti today shared “En Medio,” the hypnotic second single from her forthcoming album Será que ahora podremos entendernos? out on June 25th via Unheard of Hope. Released alongside an otherworldly video directed by Thania Díaz and Moisés Méndez and filmed near Mexico City’s sprawling Xaltepec Volcano, “En Medio” is Fratti at her most enthralling and follows the album’s first single “Hacia el Vacío,” featuring Claire Rousay, which earned early praise and support fromNPR Music’s All Songs Considered, XLR8R, BBC 6Music, and more. “This song is very different from the rest in that it has a clear and simple tempo set by a drum machine and the vocal production is a lot more spatial in contrast to others,” Fratti explains. “The lyrics address words we use to compromise ourselves, and how they seem to predetermine what plays out in some ways, when there are many chaotic things happening ‘in between’ (‘en medio’). The song was co-produced with Hugo Quezada, a member of the band Exploded View, in his studio ‘Progreso Nacional.'”
Méndez, who along with the video crew referred to the Xaltepec Volcano’s hilly, red dirt terrain as “Mars,” detailed the video’s concept: “We wanted to create something that would attract the eye, not really focused on being conceptual. As we started shooting, more ideas came to our minds, like painting a sky and burning it, which was a challenge because we almost burned ourselves (there’s a photo where Mabe doesn’t notice she’s holding a burning bottle of gasoline in her hand). But the best thing is that we got this shot we wanted: a shot of Mabe taking delicate care of the fire of a candle.”
Mabe Fratti recently announced her first album release show this fall at London’s Cafe Oto on October 29th. Tickets are available HERE. Será que ahora podremos entendernos? is available for pre-order/save at DSPs HERE.
Originally from Guatemala, Fratti is now based in Mexico City and Será que ahora podremos entendernos? was created and recorded at La Orduña—an artist loft converted from an old juice factory in Veracruz, MX—throughout the spring of 2020. While her 2019 debut LP, Pies Sobre la Tierra, introduced the world to Fratti’s lush & hypnotic cello compositions, earning acclaim from The Wire, The Guardian, XLR8R, Bandcamp, and more, Será… finds a space for lyrical invention, elevating her otherworldly creations to new heights. The album’s title translates as Will we be able to understand each other now?,and Mabe explains its central theme explores human issues with communication: “The everyday act of communication is contradicted by the idea that communicating with others, and yourself, is never simple: it’s ultimately an absurd desire to want to be absolutely understood yet we insist to be because we have this human desire for connection.”
Across the album’s nine immersive and diverse tracks, Mabe constructs striking new worlds, all of which stemmed from improvisations she conjured while staying at La Orduña. She based each song on her idea of “diagramation,” having a start point and an endpoint, and then exploring the many different journeys she could take to tie them together. The listener too should appreciate this journey, viewing the album’s many layers as objects to navigate through and around, under and over. Mabe’s cello is still a prominent aspect of the work here but it comes draped in vintage synths, guitars, field recordings, and gentle drone – some of which is influenced by Mexico’s experimental band Tajak who appear on two tracks here – which makes for a remarkable, tangible atmosphere across the whole LP.
