Colombian musical sorceress Lucrecia Dalt returns to the forefront with a new album, A Danger To Ourselves. The Berlin-based electronic musician returns to a more pop-oriented sound compared to her previous album, !Ay!. However, it is a highly refined pop sound, leaning towards alternative, personal, and full of surprises.
One of these surprises is hearing the voice of the venerable David Sylvian, former member of the band Japan in the 1980s, on the first track, Cosa Rara. It turns out that Sylvian, who now makes long pieces of sophisticated ambient music, co-produced A Danger To Ourselves.
This two-generation pairing (Dalt is in his forties, Sylvian in his sixties) works very well. Lucrecia’s sound could find its roots, very distant ones, in the music of Japan and Sylvian.
I mentioned pop, but it’s a rather meditative, even dark pop, compared to what we usually associate with the genre. There’s nothing here that will make it to the charts or the top ten, if you prefer. In addition to multiple keyboards and electronic rhythms, we sometimes hear guitars—sometimes flamenco, sometimes electric—saxophones, double bass, strings, marimbas. Note that some of these sounds may also come from keyboards. The more we listen, the more we absorb the complexity of the arrangements. The more we appreciate it.
Two Latin female artists sing with Lucrecia Dalt on tracks: the excellent Argentine Juana Molina and the Mexican Camille Mandoki, two women who love experimentation, just like Lucrecia.
I will end on a slightly negative note, which regular readers will already be aware of: almost half of the songs are in English. Is this really necessary? She always sounds better when she sings in her native language. Does singing in the universal language really bring her more listeners?
Let’s not let this spoil our fun. Long live the Colombo-Berlin witch!
