There are certain sounds, and accordingly songs, that you immediately recognize and perceive as if they have constantly accompanied you throughout life, always the same yet different, you would never get tired of listening to.
Likewise timeless are undoubtedly the ethereal and rarefied atmospheres binding the Cocteau Twins to Slowdive, to which the quartet Un.Real (two words pronounced in Spanish), ‘Puerto Rico‘s first Shoegaze band’, harken back with utter proficiency.
Hailing from Isabela on the northwestern coast of the Central-American country, albeit first conceived by now veteran musician Gardy Perez in Brooklyn, NY on July 15, 1995 after the death of MTV’s Alternative Nation and highly inspired by early ’90s ‘The Scene That Celebrates Itself’, the group soon established itself as a household name on the local underground music circuit, gradually incorporating various influences and releasing several demo tapes, singles and EP’s over the years, although they never recorded a full-length LP.
.Currently a four-piece, in addition to Gardy Perez-Ruiz (Guitars, synths), comprised of Bernice Cruz (Vocals, synths) Hector Caolo (Bass) and Eden Cruz (Drums), they’ve just delivered a stellar new single “Lovely one / Islands”,taken from the upcoming album “Islands” due out this Summer.
An intoxicating immersion into a hazy and silent night, both wistful and vulnerable, infused with sheer intensity, dense sensations, and profound emotions.
Heavenly arcane harmonies shimmer gently amidst quivering reverb-laden guitar swells and sinuously deep bassline relentlessly pulsing like a warm heartbeat, creating mesmeric sideral drones and sweeping echo and delay drifts over shy, dreamily delicate submerged whispers, fearfully longing and floating under the sparkling ethereal starlight, as the guitar tone soars with achingly dramatic blinding emphasis, before fading into a soothing acoustic atmospheric coda.
Tormented lyrics imply forbidden love and uncontrolled passion in a fatalistic confession
“If you say:
I love you!
I will stay and burn.”
photo by Jorge Hatake
