Chilean-German vocalist and producer Matías Aguayo has long been a distinctive force in leftfield electronic music, and his latest release, Anenoa, marks a triumphant return to the microphone after a brief instrumental detour. The album delivers a collection of hard-hitting, dancefloor-focused tracks that showcase his mutable, instinctive vocal style.
A Vocal Chameleon Returns
Aguayo’s voice has been an instantly recognizable element in electronic music for over two decades. From his playful, syllable-tripping performance on Battles’ 2011 track “Ice Cream” to the keening, childlike melody on Crystal’s 2017 “Kimi Wa Monster,” he has consistently defied convention. His own earlier works layered chants and scatter-gun vocal rhythms over pulsing Afro-Latin beats. After 2019’s Support Alien Invasion, which explored instrumental territory, Anenoa reasserts his vocal prowess across ten energetic tracks.
Track-by-Track Highlights
The album opens with “Sentimientos Encontraos,” a fast-paced syncopated Latin rhythm that immediately sets an ebullient tone. Aguayo’s nonchalant repetition of the title creates a hypnotic motif, as bubbling and kinetic as the beat itself. On “Asuka, Rock, Roll,” he shifts from sprechgesang to soulful falsetto, channeling a ghetto house influence. The thumping trance number “Avestruz en Veracruz” transforms his party chants into a growling baritone through vocal processing. The 80s-styled synth-pop track “La Heredera” features delicate crooning alongside Latin American singers Iarahei and Camille Mandoki.
A playful spirit pervades every vocal decision. On “Anenoa Pt 1,” Aguayo veers into chipmunk high-pitched tones, while “The Beat” offers a funky highlight where he languorously lists percussion instruments—“the snare, the cowbell, the shaker”—as if guided purely by whim in the booth. This spontaneity infuses the record with infectious, lively energy, encouraging listeners to turn up the volume and dance to his irrepressible sounds, no matter where his shapeshifting voice might lead.
Other Notable Releases This Month
Alongside Anenoa, several albums merit attention. British-Egyptian duo Natacha Atlas and Samy Bishai release Parallel Universe Volume 1, blending melismatic Arabic vocals with a fascinating range of backing tracks, from maghrebi trip-hop on “Unchanging Game” to ney flute and trap bass on the menacing “Somoud.” French-Iranian producer Cinna Peyghamy’s Music for Tombak & Synth crafts eerie sound worlds from the ancient Persian percussion instrument, producing abstract dancefloor pressure via palm-struck bass tones and finger-flicked highs. Pakistani-American vocalist Ali Sethi soars alongside drummer and producer Gregory Rogove on their debut album Room Jhoom, where minimal arrangements of finger-picked guitar and scattered electronic drums give Sethi’s classically trained vocals ample space to transmit yearning emotion.
