French electronic music duo Cuarto Mundo derives their name from a term that translates into English as “Fourth World” a term coined to describe the various groups of the planet’s indigenous peoples. The act features Thomas Lavernhe, who has played in a number of solo projects and bands and Chilean-born DJ Cosmo Gonik, who has toured with Arcade Fire. Interestingly, Lavernhe and Going’s work with Cuarto Mundo, sees them drawing inspiration from traditional sounds and styles across the world to shape a journey to music mysterious — and perhaps mystical — roots.
Late last year, I wrote about their debut single “Sabi Lulu,” a slickly produced and mischievously anachronistic track that features electronic production centered around skittering beats and glistening synths paired with a traditional, percussive melody from West Java, Indonesia, written by Mang Koko.
The French duo’s latest single, “La Cumbia Del Tarot” is a slow-burning bit of psychedelic cumbia featuring traditional cumbia instrumentation, shuffling rhythms, wobbling and twinkling synth arpeggios. Written as a tribute to Alejandro Jodorowsky‘s The Holy Mountain, the track features a guest spot from the famed director’s son, Adan Jodorowsky, who contributes vocals. The end result is a meditative and trippy synthesis of the ancient and the modern.
