A sense of destiny hangs over Sentir Que No Sabes, Mabe Fratti’s fourth solo-credited album released in a five year span. Her work has always possessed a finely tuned sense of drama capable of expressing a range of emotional states, and across this new album, she conveys the struggle to process various relationships or situations–and the actions that come next. Sentir Que No Sabes is urgent and clear, poppy, generous and approachable, while showcasing a considerable emotional hinterland. It is also, as Fratti is quick to mention, “groovy.”

Written and recorded with her partner, multi-instrumentalist, and co-composer Héctor Tosta (I.La Católica, Titanic), Sentir Que No Sabes is the result of an intense, detail-oriented process. Fueled by a new confidence gained in their collaborative project, Titanic, and its critically acclaimed 2023 LP, Vidrio, the two hunkered down in the familiarity of their studio (aka Tinho Studios) to bash out the initial sonic coordinates of her new record. “We talked and talked, and discussed ways of playing and recording, until things became inevitable,” Fratti explains. “We recorded a bunch of demos at our home studio and that meant we had a lot of time to re-edit and experiment. We really dug in. We were super focused on detail.” Tosta also took up the controls as producer and arranger-in-chief for all additional instruments. The album was later completed at Willem Twee Studios in Den Bosch in the Netherlands, and Pedro y el Lobo Studios and Soy Sauce Studios, in Mexico City.

For the final studio recordings, the pair were joined by drummer Gibran Andrade and trumpetist Jacob Wick to fill out and expand on Tosta’s percussion and brass arrangements. This small group of friends were able to work quickly and openly, and without fear: a testament to the exhaustive groundwork put in at Tinho Studios. This can be heard in three short, intermediary tracks that also manage to be the most aggressive on the record: “Kitana” (a scratch-laden instrumental that acts as a strange prelude for the last track, “Angel nuevo”) and a pair of two-minute instrumental interludes, “Elastica” I and II. None are throwaway mood pieces; rather they act as emotional cue cards, and hint at the way Fratti and Tosta created the overall atmosphere of Sentir Que No Sabes.

TRACK LISTING

1. Kravitz
2. Pantalla Azul (Blue Screen Error)
3. Elastica II
4. Oidos (Ears)
5. Quieras-o-no (Whether You Want To Or Not) 
6. Enfrente (In Front)
7. Elastica I
8. Márgen Del Indice (Index Margin)
9. Alarmas Olvidadas (Forgotten Alarms)
10. Descubrimos Un Suspiro (We Discovered A Sigh)
11. Intento Fallido (failed Attempt)
12. Kitana
13. Angel Nuevo

Shimmer’s tones are unexpected, the combinations of instruments far off the beaten trails of familiar genres. It’s not quite jazz, not quite neoclassical, not quite soul, but something all its own. Saxophone, clarinet, glockenspiel, cello, pedal steel, synths, guitar & human voice merge in ethereal counterpoints that nod to chamber music, while the rhythm section drives the whole thing forward with an uncanny propulsion that feels cool, self-possessed & hyper contemporary. & all the while Shimmer makes sure to keep one foot outside time—stepping alone toward the ageless inward horizon.

Its A-side contains four tightly orchestrated tracks recorded in Mexico City in 2023; the B-side is a single long experiment in texture, which Gilgore began writing at the beginning of the pandemic in 2020 and finished remotely in 2023. Think Jacques Brel’s “Je suis un soir d’été”. Think Chicago fusion à la Tortoise. Think the wall-of-sound production of David Axelrod. Think Steve Reich’s organs in polyrhythm. Think Arthur Russell’s neo-classical “Tower of Meaning”. Think them all at once, then forget all that & open yourself to something new. What I mean is: when Jarrett Gilgore plays what we call the instruments, he’s not playing instruments. When he plays what we call notes, he’s not playing notes. When he composes what we call songs, he’s not composing songs. Instruments, under his care, don’t do what they do in the hands of others. Music, in his hands, doesn’t assert particular messages or portray scenes. It disappears into.

Titanic debut album Vidrio is the collaboration between composer I la Cat6Iica (Hector Tosta) and Guatemalan experimentalist Mabe Fratti.

One could call Vitrio a jazz hybrid record, though once upon a time this music would have been called postmodern; an answer to pop's pre-packaged form, adopting maybe more classical structures to tell a story. In that, this record is reminiscent of Derek Jarman's "1980s contemporaries, The Blue Nile, who made widescreen post-pop that ached with longing for resolutions that seemed to be just over the horizon. And for all the deconstructions, the deliberate raucousness of the sax and the rhythms of the percussion (like waves riding up a shingle beach outside Jarman's cottage), this is still a music that can thread a line back to classical opera whilst nodding along the way to the likes of Terry Riley, or bebop. Over time, and by dint of working closely together, Fratti and Tosta have reached a state of grace that only comes rarely to artists. In this space they can do no wrong: the touch, the decision-making, the clarity of the instrumentation, the knowledge where to apply the emotional press, is nothing short of breathtaking. They need to remember these moments.

TRACK LISTING

1. Anonima
2. Mister Popo
3. Cielo Falso
4. Hotel Elizabeth
5. En Paralelo
6. Te Evite
7. Palacio
8. Balanza