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All tracks written & produced by Skudge.

B2 Remix by Konrad Wehrmeister

Mastered by Tangible Air.

Designed by Gerardo Corizzo.

Stickered cover.

From the bellows of a galactic abyss, n-trip offers their first solo EP release on DU:RA. The label boss reveals 4 deep techno tracks cultivated from an appreciation of the stylings of Valentino Mora, Ntogn and Simone Bauer adjacent sound palettes. Attending festivals such as Organik and experiences with deep techno doofs out in the Aussie bushland has also heavily influenced this release.

Reservation and propulsive sound design shape the tracks for the most part, while aspects of field recordings are littered throughout the release of rocks, leaves and sticks from recent travels. The structural simplicity and minimalistic elements make for perfect DJ tracks to accompany swamp-like sets and throbbing sub basslines are sure to shake any doof or club system.

‘Domina’ opens the release with chiming pads and heavily delayed artefacts invoking an ethereal cosmos of which the kicks and bass gently reinforce in movement. A broken snare beat follows as gradually layers of percussion increase in intensity.

‘MML’ takes what energy has built and adds pounding toms to the rhythm. Harsh live synthesis swells in the backdrop as hi-hats and clicks pan around the white noise and minimal yet intentional synth work.

‘dddBBB’ drops the tempo as it comes in full of field recordings. Taking you on a bushwalk through a desolate dreamscape – it slowly grows and pulsates like a giant snake writhing through the cosmic jungle, stalking its prey.

‘MR13’ then takes these ideas and jacks up the tempo to finish off the release. Shakers pan about as sticks, rocks and leaves reinforce the rhythm. FM chords slowly add life to the beat and are accompanied by giant bassy pads that gradually coalesce into its humble yet driving finale.

All tracks have been produced on Gadigal Land. Always was, always will be Aboriginal Land.

DC Salas is a Belgian DJ and producer from Brussels with Peruvian roots, celebrated for blending house, acid, techno, goa, and early ’90s progressive influences into a distinctive and timeless sound. His music bridges hypnotic grooves with emotional intensity, always crafted with the dancefloor in mind.

Already a part of the Time Passages family through the V.A. compilation Time Passages 24, where he contributed with the track “Perception Of Truth”, DC Salas now makes his full return to the label.

His new four-track EP, “Trapped Inside Your Mind”, expands on his trademark style with depth and precision. Shifting between raw analog energy and atmospheric layers, the record captures both the grit of underground club culture and a sense of introspective exploration—cementing his place as one of Belgium’s most versatile and forward-thinking electronic artists.

With the release of Make a Change, their third album, Blue Deal definitively steps into the league of the greats. The German quartet delivers a perfect manifesto of Blues-Rock here, featuring all the ingredients that make the genre beautiful. It"s impeccably produced and performed, further highlighting compositions whose "hit potential" immediately catches the eye. The influences are clear and embraced (Deep Purple, ZZ Top, Bad Company) without ever veering into plagiarism. There is now a distinct "Blue Deal touch" that explains why the band is today THE reference for blues in Germany, with the potential to conquer the rest of Europe...and the world. Make a Change will be the perfect vehicle to serve this fine ambition !

The debut album from Tokyo's WENDY, now available for the first time as an extended vinyl edition. Formed as teenagers during Japan's strict COVID lockdown, WENDY secretly came together to create rock 'n' roll for a new generation. Their raw demos quickly landed them a publishing deal with Sony Music Publishing and caught the ear of Grammy Award-winning producer Marc Whitmore (Jon Batiste - "We Are"). Whitmore was so impressed he produced their debut album himself, recorded live in just nine days, with no edits, capturing the band's unfiltered energy. The process was even featured in Sound & Recording Magazine. The vinyl edition includes two exclusive, previously unreleased tracks: "Pull Me In" and the powerful "Pledge of Love".

A pre-release 7-inch cover single by Sapporo-based new-generation R&B/soul singer Ruto Kasahara is now available!

Side A features his first cover collaboration single, "Asahi no Ataru Michi," arranged by producer/DJ Sam is Ohm, who has produced for Kick a Show
and worked with MALIYA, KEN THE 390, ZEN-LA-ROCK, and others.

Side AA features a double-sided disc of his new single, "I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free," arranged by THE SOUL EATERS, the soul band
for which Ruto is the lead vocalist.

"Hidden City" (2016) is The Cult"s tenth studio album - produced by Bob Rock and written by Ian Astbury and Billy Duffy. It"s the final part of a trilogy that witnessed the rebirth of the band, beginning with "Born Into This" (2007), which evolved into "Choice of Weapon" (2012), and arrived fully formed, kicking and screaming with the seductive "Hidden City". The sonic assault of "Dark Energy" is the perfect intro to this album. Peel away the layers of this 12-track master class in space and time, and you will discover a band in their absolute prime. Which comes as no surprise, as the Cult have existed in the shadows and wild spaces since their inception. Remastered for vinyl by Justin Shturtz at Sterling Sound, and cut by John Webber at Air Studios.

"Hidden City" (2016) is The Cult"s tenth studio album - produced by Bob Rock and written by Ian Astbury and Billy Duffy. It"s the final part of a trilogy that witnessed the rebirth of the band, beginning with "Born Into This" (2007), which evolved into "Choice of Weapon" (2012), and arrived fully formed, kicking and screaming with the seductive "Hidden City". The sonic assault of "Dark Energy" is the perfect intro to this album. Peel away the layers of this 12-track master class in space and time, and you will discover a band in their absolute prime. Which comes as no surprise, as the Cult have existed in the shadows and wild spaces since their inception. Remastered for vinyl by Justin Shturtz at Sterling Sound, and cut by John Webber at Air Studios.

"“The strongest Cult songs in years.” ★★★★ --The Guardian

Remastered for vinyl by Justin Shturtz at Sterling Sound, and cut by John Webber at Air Studios. Pressed on Limited Edition Coloured vinyl: LP1 red, LP2 white vinyl.

Hidden City is The Cult’s tenth studio album - produced by Bob Rock and written by Ian Astbury and Billy Duffy. It’s the final part of a trilogy that witnessed the rebirth of the band, beginning with ‘Born Into This’ (2007), which evolved into ‘Choice of Weapon’ (2012), and arrived fully formed, kicking and screaming with the seductive ‘Hidden City’

The sonic assault of ‘Dark Energy’ is the perfect intro to this album. Peel away the layers of this 12 track master class in space and time, and you will discover a band in their absolute prime. Which comes as no surprise, as the Cult have existed in the shadows and wild spaces since their inception."

"“The strongest Cult songs in years.” ★★★★ --The Guardian

Remastered for vinyl by Justin Shturtz at Sterling Sound, and cut by John Webber at Air Studios. Cut at 45 RPM for a superior sound. Pressed on black audiophile vinyl at Optimal, Europe’s premium pressing plant. This CV 45 Edition comes with an individually numbered obi strip.

Hidden City is The Cult’s tenth studio album - produced by Bob Rock and written by Ian Astbury and Billy Duffy. It’s the final part of a trilogy that witnessed the rebirth of the band, beginning with ‘Born Into This’ (2007), which evolved into ‘Choice of Weapon’ (2012), and arrived fully formed, kicking and screaming with the seductive ‘Hidden City’

The sonic assault of ‘Dark Energy’ is the perfect intro to this album. Peel away the layers of this 12 track master class in space and time, and you will discover a band in their absolute prime. Which comes as no surprise, as the Cult have existed in the shadows and wild spaces since their inception."

"Across eleven cinematic tracks — each a melodic treasure and short film — Dienel probes: What does freedom look like when rooted in presence, not escape? “Joy, especially queer joy, is revolutionary,” they muse. “Even in the face of everything else, I wanted to show that happiness is still possible — and necessary.”
The record was brought to life with an impressive ensemble of collaborators: producer Adam Schatz (Japanese Breakfast, Neko Case), bassist Spencer Zahn, guitarists Carly Bond (Meernaa) and meg duffy (Hand Habits), drummer Max Jaffe, mixing engineer Jake Aron (Solange, Snail Mail), and mastering engineer Heba Kadry (Björk, Sade). Breaking from their usual DIY approach, Dienel embraced the power of the collective — an experiment in trust, connection, and openness.
Tonally influenced by My Own Private Idaho and widescreen pop, such as Born in the U.S.A., My Heart Is An Outlaw is a warm-hearted exploration. Can we love fully without being domesticated? Can we resist cultural scripts by choosing presence and community over self-erasure? As they put it, “The heart has a mind of its own…It’s the thing holding you back that you have to set free on your own time, in your own way.”
From the early days of White Hinterland to the lush orchestral pop of her solo work, Dienel has consistently bent and challenged the boundaries of independent music. My Heart Is An Outlaw continues that legacy — an unapologetic, joyous declaration of queer love and creative agency."

The World Is a Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid to Die return October 17 with Dreams of Being Dust, an album that finds the Connecticut-formed collective plumbing the depths of emotional ruin and emerging with their most scorched, unrelenting work yet. Co-produced by guitarist Chris Teti (Fiddlehead, Anxious) and Greg Thomas (END, Misery Signals), the album exchanges the band"s usual sprawl for something more serrated-folding djent-like heft and post-hardcore volatility into their post-everything DNA. Dreams of Being Dust is the band"s fifth studio album, and follows up their well- received 2021 album, Illusory Walls, which arrived as their "heaviest, proggiest, most audacious release to date" according to Stereogum. Tackling complex social and political themes like religion and capitalism, Pitchfork praised its scathing indictments as "fuming with resentment for the ruthless greed and self-interest fueling societal collapse. If Illusory Walls was their grand reckoning, Dreams Of Being Dust is the aftermath: raw, furious, alive. But even amid the chaos, the band"s core remains intact-a belief in community, resistance, and making sense of the world through sheer volume and vulnerability. TWIABP have always blurred the lines between hope and despair, and here, that duality feels sharper than ever. Now a decade in, the band- David F. Bello (vocals), Chris Teti (guitar/ vocals), Joshua Cyr (bass), Katie Dvorak (synth/vocals), Steven K. Buttery (drums), and Anthony Gesa (guitar/ vocals)-deliver a message that sounds less like a eulogy and more like a rallying cry.

Enjoy The Ride Records, in partnership with Paramount Music, proudly presents Beverly Hills Cop III Original Motion Picture Score, Music by Nile Rodgers.

Eddie Murphy and Judge Reinhold return for the third installment of the series, and the franchise was graced with some new faces behind the scenes: Director John Landis (Animal House, Thriller, Coming To America), and Musician, Producer, and Songwriter Nile Rodgers (Chic, David Bowie, Coming To America).

Homage is paid to Faltermeyer's beloved Axel F, with a funky and fun rendition performed by Rogers and Richard Hilton, but with the addition of an orchestra to the band and synths, the action-packed score takes a fun, dynamic direction that suits the film perfectly.

Beverly Hills Cop III Original Motion Picture Score is available for the first time on 2xLP vinyl. It contains the full score, plus alternate score tracks, unused demos, and bonus tracks. Housed in a gatefold jacket (which features a WonderWorld theme park map, recreated by Dan Goldwasser) and red poly-lined inner sleeves, the pressing is limited to 1,000 copies across four colorful themed variants.

Mark Fell inaugurates his new label – The National Centre for Mark Fell Studies – with his first solo electronic material in years; a slinky, ravishing volley of unique dance drills that have been in the works for over a decade, feeling somehow like Derek Bailey dissecting Singeli, or Autechre and Hermeto Pascoal dancing in hyperspace. There’s nothing else quite like it.

Back on the floor for the first time since dealing a pair of deep house 12”s with DJ Sprinkles, sending a contemporary classic in »Protogravity« with Errorsmith, plus a lauded collab with Gábor Lázár – all in 2015 – Fell taps back into core club concerns last explored to this uncompromising extent on his string of »Sensate Focus« EPs released between 2012–2013. He’s hardly been slacking since then, with a slew of far-reaching avant collabs with everyone from Rian Treanor to Limpe Fuchs, Okkyung Lee to Pat Thomas, Explore Ensemble to Will Guthrie – each one blurring distinctions between producer, composer, and conductor.

The »Nite Closures« EP is worth the wait – and then some. As ever, Fell manages to retain a highly distinctive, instantly identifiable sound while also tracing and mapping new bends in the continuum. His exploration of contemporary styles and patterns is here distilled and articulated with a rare, daring playfulness and sinuous intricacy – for over half an hour he flows from frantic to almost emotional at the drop of a snare. Trust it’s not your everyday / everynight club music, with an asymmetric angularity bound to wrong-foot fresher feet, but also the type of absolutely future-facing, skewed machine funk that clubs are crying out for, even if they don’t quite realise it.

As someone who’s witnessed the dominance of colouring-book Jive Bunny DJs recycle tested ideas ad infinitum, the message is a firm do-one to myopic ravers in »Nite Closures«. From the displaced anticipations tested in its extended dub and ravishing, tweaked polymetrics on its version, through a »Large Modulos #3« teeming with organismic details, to the hair-kissing swang of »auchterhouse (inversion)« and its clipped, cascading 2.1-step reprise, Fell offers thrilling new options for the loosey-gooseyest dancers at each turn. For us, it’s perhaps his greatest record this century.

Chicago-based indie punks Sincere Engineer started as a solo acoustic punk act playing dive bars and open mics. Singer/guitarist/songwriter, Deanna Belos, decided to forego dental school for punk music, trading in teeth for corn dogs (as referenced in her fan favorite song "Corn Dog Sonnet No. 7"), and touring the world with bands like Hot Mulligan, Alkaline Trio, The Menzingers, and Joyce Manor. In 2020, she released Bless My Psyche, her first sophomore album on independent powerhouse Hopeless Records. Featuring the Sirius XM Faction hit "Trust Me," the album explored themes of insecurity, failure, and coming of age and was built for gut wrenching sing-a-longs. With the upcoming Cheap Grills, Sincere Engineer now takes a massive leap forward with catchy melodies, witty and sharp lyrics, and the sincerity of a person that wants to do the right thing in a world that doesn't always reward that. Working with producer Mike Sapone (Taking Back Sunday, Brand New), Sincere Engineer/Deanna Belos has crafted an album that sees her emerge as a face of the new generation of melodic punk. For Fans Of: The Menzingers, Alkaline Trio, Hot Mulligan, Jeff Rosenstock

Young Gun Silver Fox are the captains of AM Waves, setting sail towards an isle where melodies soak the shoreline and grooves sway like palm trees. Their route traces a natural progression fromWest End Coast, an album that cast Andy Platts (Young Gun) and Shawn Lee (Silver Fox) as musical virtuosos of SoCal-infused pop. AM Waves does more than duplicate the perfection of West End Coast. It improves it.

Recorded at The Shop in London and Roffey Hall in the English countryside, AM Waves burnishes the blend between the duo's modern aesthetic and their sumptuously crafted homage to '70s-styled pop, rock, and soul. "This music hits a certain spot for me personally that nothing else quite does," says Shawn, who produced the album amidst his projects for Saint Etienne, Shawn Lee's Ping Pong Orchestra, and several other acts. "It's real high-caliber music. It's easy and breezy to listen to but it's really hard to make. Every aspect is A game."

The A game behind AM Waves fuels 43 minutes of Young Gun Silver Fox in peak form. "AM Waves is much more instinctive," says Andy, whose penchant for writing irresistible hooks and melodies also shapes his role as lead singer and lyricist/composer for the band Mamas Gun. "It's more vivid. You can see the clarity to the colors of AM Waves whereas West End Coast is slightly more impressionist, as it were."

Originally issued as a single in September 2017, "Midnight in Richmond" is the anchor of AM Waves. "I hit one chord, which I'd never played before, and the song sort of wrote itself," notes Shawn. "It was intuitive. In many ways, the primary function of what I'm doing is trying to find that chord that opens a door and takes you someplace else. Those chords have magic." Andy embellishes the song's appeal by nimbly juxtaposing wistful emotions with a sun-kissed melody, his voice evoking richly drawn memories. The qualities that make "Midnight in Richmond" an instant classic abound throughout the album.

"Lenny" and "Take It or Leave It" spotlight Andy's versatility as a songwriter. The former was inspired by a dream he had where Lenny Kravitz owned a bar. "It was surreal," he says. "He was polishing the glasses and just serving me hit after hit." Like swimming through moonshine, Andy languorously savors every syllable in the song. "Take It or Leave It" is pure pop bliss. "That was one of those songs that fell out in half an hour," he says. "I had everything and it was done." Shawn adds, "It's such a perfect song in itself. When I listen to it, it's like you've created a record that already existed."

Young Gun Silver Fox introduce a five-piece horn section on "Underdog" that literally trumpets the song's protagonist. Shawn affectionately dubbed them the "Seaweed Horns" in honor of the Seawind Horns, an LA-based unit that recorded with powerhouses like Michael Jackson,Rufus & Chaka Khan,and Earth, Wind & Fire during the late-'70s. Andy explains, "The horns grab another hue of the west coast sound, which is the starting point, but it's also maybe the point where we're injecting a little bit more of ourselves and some outside colors into the familiar west coast palette."

A bounty of treasures course through AM Waves' ebb and flow. "Mojo Rising," which the duo penned with Rob Johnson, is a veritable retreat to paradise. "Sky-bound, heaven sent / Way above the clouds watching shootingstars descend," Andy sings, mirroring the music's celestial undertones. Sensuality contours the notes on "Just a Man," a song that basks in the allure of a woman who leaves "footprints on the water" while "Love Guarantee" is festooned with the Seaweed Horns. "I wanted to bring more of that R&B slickness into the mix," Shawn notes about the latter track. "We hadn't done a tune with that sort of groove." Similar to his work on "Underdog," Nichol Thomson's intricate horn arrangement on "LoveGuarantee"exemplifies another distinction between AM Waves and its predecessor.

"Caroline" occupies a special place on AM Waves, beyond spawning the album title. It tells the story of Radio Caroline, a pirate radio station that broadcast from an offshore vessel during the '60s and '70s. "They played the music that kids wanted to hear, whether it was the old stuff or cutting edge stuff," says Andy. "'Caroline' is about Radio Caroline's eventual capture." Complementing Andy Platts' deft wordplay, which draws parallels between radio airwaves and the station's literal home on the ocean, Shawn Lee layers nearly a dozen different parts on "Caroline," showcasing the vastness of his musicality. "I loved that track as soon as I heard it," Andy continues. "It's a beautiful fusion of me and Shawn."

The Seaweed Horns joinYoung Gun Silver Foxas they detour to the dance floor on "Kingston Boogie." Shawn explains the track's genesis, "I was thinking, what have we not done yet We definitely should get an AOR disco thing happening. I quite like disco. The beat is so metronomic that it allows you to be really sophisticated on top. 'Kingston Boogie' just laid itself out. I call it 'midnight disco.'" With a nod to "Lenny," Andy Platts sets "Kingston Boogie" back at Lenny's Bar, this time revealing a detail or two about its mysterious proprietor as he pours sweet wine and moonshine.

In a sense, AM Waves ends with the beginning. Even before there was Young Gun Silver Fox, there was "Lolita," the first song Andy Platts and Shawn Lee wrote together and a crowd-pleasing staple of the duo's live sets. The tale of a femme fatale who harbors a secret was recorded for West End Coast but instead furnished the B-side to "Long Way Back" as well as a bonus track on the North American edition of the album. Despite the song's checkered trajectory, its infectious chorus sparked the brighter, more buoyant orientation of AM Waves.

Like the moon pulling the tide, Young Gun Silver Fox are a magnet for good songs. "We're both so obsessed and constantly interested in music-making," says Andy. "We're both thinking about it all the time. When you know you have an accomplice with you that's the same as you, it's very liberating. Suddenly, worlds of color start to appear." Indeed, AM Waves is elemental in its power to induce pleasure. Dive right in.

Christian John Wikane

(New York City / February 2018)

Here to dazzle you by the power of the disco ball, Lack of Afro is your friendly neighbourhood ‘Love Dealer’. Two years on from the funk & soul rebirth of ‘Square One’, powered by the ubiquitous ‘Loving Arms’ featuring Greg Blackman, Lack of Afro aka Adam Gibbons is now close to two decades deep in the game with soundtrack credits galore and online streams doing calculator-busting numbers. With extensive touring taking ‘Love Dealer’ up and down the country this Autumn, Gibbons’ ninth studio album is all for "the thrill of seeing people on a dancefloor, all collectively locked into a track that you've produced - there’s nothing like it!”.


‘Love Dealer’ is the authentic modern disco experience, packing a stacked sole’s worth of club beats full of stardusted sing-alongs, style-outs and French touch-style cool. Despite being “written during one of the longest winters in living memory”, ‘Love Dealer’, featuring some co-production from fellow South Coast dancefloor scholar Flevans (and influenced by producer du jour Barry Can’t Swim), exudes warmth and will make you sweat when its highs take effect.


Entering the scene with the radiance of ‘Make It Shine’ featuring Greg Blackman, washing over the airwaves of BBC 6 Music and Radio 2 and taking up a 10-week residency on the Jazz FM playlist, Gibbons and his crack line-up of discotheque players are your go-to team when you can’t wait for the weekend to begin, as subtle as they are straight down to business. ‘Love Dealer’ offers you nothing but the best in sparkling string symphonies, the hippest guitar licks, samples of those invited beyond the velvet rope and struts soaked in night fever.


Double A-side ‘Walls Start Rockin’ and ‘Heart & Soul’ guide the album’s glamour-and-groove, while ‘Love Saves The Day’ and ‘Plain to See’ dramatically take to the podium in a shimmer of pure peak 70s theatre. ‘Keeping Me Strong’ is the synergy of disco chic and the sound of a global advertising tie-in with Dyson, ahead of Gibbons taking a slightly Moroder/Cerrone-ish detour on ‘Idolising People Like Madlib’. “'Love Dealer' is aimed unequivocally at the dancefloor" says Adam. "As an artist, I wanted to push myself in a slightly new direction - more into the land of disco and a four to the floor sound. 'Love Dealer' is quintessentially an upbeat record, full of joy, optimism and hope for the future”. Seek your inner ‘Love Dealer’, kink your ‘fro and let your funk flag fly.
















n B7. 14 Your Love (feat. Jonah Hitchens) BONUS TRACK














n B7. 14 Your Love (feat. Jonah Hitchens) BONUS TRACK














[n] B7. 14 Your Love (feat. Jonah Hitchens) [BONUS TRACK]














[BONUS TRACK]

Sydney-born, Berlin-based DJ / producer Logic1000 delivers a euphoric dance remix of José González’s timeless hit track "Heartbeats" - the 2nd in a series of new remixes celebrating the 20th anniversary of González’s acclaimed debut album, Veneer

Love International launch new vinyl-focused imprint with a 12" from Adam Curtain including a remix from Mr. Ho.

Revered party crew Love International expand their enterprise, channeling the buzz from another stellar year into a freshly minted sub-label: the 'Love International Floor Series'.

As the name suggestions, the series zeroes in on the dance floor, giving some form and shape to misty memories forged across protracted sessions at Barbarellas, The Olive Grove and The Beach in Tisno.

In to inaugurate the project is London based Adam Curtain - an artist focused on flexing the boundaries of UK club music who has been gathering steam as a nifty selector and a talented producer. A familiar face on both sides of the booth at Lion & Lamb, Fabric, Gottwood and of course - Love International - Adam nails the brief in delivering a record that is sharp, direct and eminently playable.

Musically - the tunes bridge old and new, nestling in that sweet spot between Breaks, Electro, UKG, Acid and Minimal. Stepped grooves, crisp snares, angular synths and oozey bass lines all unify to render a sound that's simultaneously psychotropic and crystal clear.

The cherry on the cake comes as a remix from the venerated Mr. Ho of Klasse Wrecks fame. Often paired with Luca Lozano, Mr. Ho is a master of organising chaos and here he does exactly that - rousing his machines and churning the original into a sludgy, fractal brain scrambler.

STANDFIRST Titanic, the project spearheaded by Mabe Fratti and Hector Tosta (aka I. la Católica), return with a sumptuous and life-affirming new album.



In her sensational 1929 biography Tiger Woman, dancer and socialite Betty May claimed her ‘coster’s eye’ meant she liked to wear as many colours as possible. “Colours to me are like children to a loving mother. Each is my favourite, yet I can never bring myself to deny the others by preferring one.” May’s bold and inclusive strategy is one that manages to transfer itself, almost a century later, to Hagen, the new record by Titanic.


Many will know Titanic as the Mexico City-based brainchild of cellist and singer Mabe Fratti and multiinstrumentalist Hector Tosta who is now operating under the pseudonym, I. la Católica, (taken, rather unusually, from the name of the street the pair live on). With Hagen, and their previous release, Vidrio, (2023), the pair are creating a distinctive signature sound in modern alternative pop music. Nobody else sounds quite like them. Both records have an open hearted nature and simple, winning melodies that play off against a taste for drama, spectacular orchestration and a feeling of otherworldly mystery. Hagen is the more ambitious, sometimes more mystical effort. From the opening handclaps of ‘Lágrima del Sol’, (a wonderfully uptempo playground chant translating as a tear from the sun but, surely, not referencing the brand of pineapple wine?), the record dances its way through various mid-to-late-eighties inspirations, lush and widescreen passages of melancholy and vertiginous contrasts.


Mystery is often found in the simple but slightly odd song titles. English translations of various track titles give, ‘you swallowed the gum’, ‘leak’, ‘a tear from the sun’, ‘raising the trophy’ ‘digging dimensions’, ‘the owner’, ‘the decapitated hen’ and ‘the trap is exposed’. All denote striking images, metaphysical hints and emotional cues or simple, even childlike actions. Though Fratti and Tosta don’t reveal its provenance, the album’s title could even be a crafty play on words: the listener would be forgiven in thinking the moments of brash contrast and eyebrow raising theatricalism in the music constitute a musical nod to German punk chanteuse, Nina Hagen.


On Hagen, singer and cellist Mabe Fratti once again displays her brilliant knack of speaking to us directly. There is never the suspicion of her playing to the gallery, and the directness of many of the lyrics don’t allow it. Parallel to this, Fratti has an almost magical ability to give Hector Tosta’s melodies, and her and Tosta’s lyrics ones imbued with an insight and meaning that feels otherworldly. Tosta admitted it was “pretty wild to hear Mabe take the interpretations to a different place” and the listener can pick up on the delight Fratti takes in (literally) adding a voice to the many narratives.


Two examples can be shown here: ‘Gotera’ (Leak) uses harsh slashes of cello and tough, gunfire-like guitars and drums and multiple vocal lines that could be acting as a Greek chorus. They play off brilliantly against Fratti’s soft, slightly baleful vocal take that delivers lyrics such as: ‘nobody knows where the leak is / but I know where it is / they fight in front of the door and / nobody can go in’. With ‘La Gallina Degollada’ the somewhat blithe melody melody line, sung with what could be sarcastic brio by Fratti, plays against an itchting rhythm and rasping guitar part. The punch comes when you see that the song is about a chicken that has been decapitated and read lyrics such as: ‘I already saw it, it moved, the decapitated chicken’ / ‘could it be that I'm broken’ and ‘Two people hurt each other by thinking that they no longer agree’/ ‘Hours pass and the chicken represents what scares me’.


There may be death and fights to deal with, but there is also a quality of chirpy self-reliance about Hagen that is a key part of its nature. Like Betty May and her colourful outfits, Hagen’s sound often revels in its own sense of richness. Throughout, the record delivers vaulting string sections or glutinous guitar squeals that could, like the powerful, driving ‘Escarbo Dimensiones’ (Digging Dimensions) have come directly from a glossy 1980s TV series. Fratti sees this “glam sound” developed by Tosta on the aforementioned track and ‘Te Tragaste el Chicle’ (You Swallowed The Gum), as moments that were truly “revealing” for the album as a whole during its making.


What else? The thud and thump of ‘La Trampa Sale’ (The Trap is Exposed), and its sudden change of tempo and mood betrays a monstrously ambitious piece of music, the players almost greedily creating the sounds. Other moments are heart wrenching: ‘Libra’ ends on a poppy chord switch that cleverly ramps up the emotion inherent in the music’s notation. You could almost imagine a teenager in a bedroom forty years ago, rewinding the track over and over on a small, cheap cassette player, unable to get enough of that sugarsweet switch. Elsewhere, Oneohtrix Point Never adds stardust and an unearthly sense of space on the changeable, slightly moody meditation, ‘Pájaro de Fuego’ (Firebird). The record ends with ‘Alzando el Trofeo’ (Lifting the Trophy), a track that could soundtrack a state wedding, what with its beautiful cascading piano parts, a sugary vocal and short triumphal guitar riffs that add a rich patina to the overall sound. Fratti: “When I doubled those vocals on ‘Alzando el Trofeo’ I felt there was an epiphany happening, right at that moment.”


Making a good record is a team game. Tosta and Fratti recall seeing Randall from Circular Ruin Studios in NYC “tweak the drums in ‘Libra’ to make that amazing effect of the gated reverb”, or the shaping of ‘Gotera’, “when (recording engineer) Nate Salon added some synths to the track.” Drummer Eli Keszler, “an amazing and versatile player” had the songs down pat in a couple of days” and, according to Tosta, Oneohtrix Point Never “just came to one of the sessions and we hung out, and after all the recordings he and Nate were together in some studio and out of nowhere they sent us some beautiful tracks for ‘Pájaro de Fuego’! Fratti concurs. “He decided that he wanted to record because he was listening to the record (Nate works closely with him) and he really liked it! It was a total honour, indeed!”


Bedazzled by the playing, the skyscraping ambition in the arrangements and the giddy moments of contrast thrown up by Hagen, we could allow ourselves a brief moment of flippancy and state that Titanic’s new record is Yacht Rock meets Aeschylus, full-on. It’s also worth speculating that, in this hyper-sensitive, intemperate age, Titanic’s music has the power, however fleetingly, to heal hurts. Hagen is a brilliant showcase for a fresh and enriching form of pop music: displaying a magpie eye for what glints and plundering what has gone before.


Like Vidrio, Hagen was partially and additionally recorded at Fratti and Tosta’s house, aka Tinho Studios in Mexico City, as well as Golden Girl Studios & Circular Ruin Studios in New York City. Mixing was done by Santiago Parra in Pedro y el Lobo Studios, Mexico City and mastered by Rafael Anton Irisarri at Black Knoll Studios, New York City. The recording engineer was Nate Salon.


Hagen featured Mabe Fratti on cello, vocals & backing vocals, I. la Católica on guitar, keyboards, prepared piano, bass & backing vocals, drums by Eli Keszler and synths in ‘Pájaro de Fuego’ from Daniel Lopatin and Nate Salon.


All compositions on Hagen are written by I. la Católica, except ‘Escarbo Dimensiones’ & ‘Pájaro de Fuego’, which were composed by I. la Católica and Mabe Fratti. The record was produced by I. la Católica and co-produced by Nate Salon & Mabe Fratti. And all lyrics are by I. la Católica except ‘Escarbo Dimensiones’, ‘Gotera’, ‘Gallina degollada’ & ‘Pájaro de Fuego’, which were written by I. la Católica & Mabe Fratti.