QUANTIC & NIDIA GÓNGORA – CURAO – TRU THOUGHTS

The collaboration between the ever-willing and musically open Quantic (Will Holland) and Colombian singer Nidia Góngora has been running for around a decade, and here it properly breaks cover with a first album. The wait was worth it, because the two work together beautifully, Holland conjuring up all manner of authentic and respectfully sourced rhythms, adding the right amount of electronics to proceedings. There is a strong sense of celebration around ‘E Ye Ye’, which has a lovely sway to its dance, and so too the slower ‘Se Lo Ví’, while ‘Un Canto a Mi Tierra’ shows how naturally the offbeat Colombian rhythms fall under the feet, a brilliant and hypnotic brassy track that Góngora makes her own. Meanwhile ‘María No Me Llevo’ uses triple time, and the closing ‘Maldito Muchacho’ is ushered in by rain and loses its rhythm entirely. Of all Will Holland’s cross-continental collaborations this is one of the best, as Góngora is a wonderful and expressive vocalist. Holland’s rhythmic tableau suits her just fine.

Ben Hogwood
4 out of 5