Tag: ela minus First Words EP

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Just the other day, I wrote about Gabriela Jimeno, a Bogota, Colombia-born, New York-based drummer, electronic music artist and producer, who musically grew up in two parallel, underground musical worlds — hardcore and electronic music. And after years of playing in a variety of bands across Colombia and the US, Jimeno relocated to Boston to attend Berklee College of Music, where she graduated with a dual major in drum set performance and music synthesis. As the story goes, soon after graduation, Jimeno relocated to New York. where she played drums in several rather ambitious bands — while working on her own solo projects and building her own synthesizers and instruments.

After growing bored with the band life, the Bogota-born, New York-based drummer and electronic music artist decided to go completely solo — and under the moniker ela minus, released her debut effort First Words EP. Interestingly, instead of spending time working and releasing one album, the Bogota, Colombia-born, New York-based artist decided to release a trilogy of EPs, which would presumably allow listeners to follow her as her songwriting and musicianship evolved during the trilogy’s completion. Grow, the 2nd EP of the trilogy was released to critical acclaim from The Fader, Vice and Remezcla, and as a result, Jimeno wound up playing at a number of major festivals across North America, including Estéreo Picnic, NRMAL, SXSW, Viva Pomona and others. Adding to a growing profile, Jimeno has opened for the likes of Chairlift and Chrome Sparks.

The third and final part of the trilogy Adapt is slated for a February 17, 2017 release through YEBO Music — and as Jimeno has explained in press notes: “This has been like a re-birth for me as an artist: so, like a new baby, first words – grow – adapt. It made sense with the time I was living in too, on first EP everything was changing I didn’t really know what or why I was doing it, in the experience of making the second EP I grew as an artist a lot, and now I am adapting. I learned to learn.” Just the other day, I wrote about Adapt‘s first single “Juan Saint,” which was a moody yet shimmering bit of electro pop featuring twinkling synths, propulsive drum programming are paired with Jimeno’s ethereal cooing in a song that sonically is reminiscent of Empress Of, Yumi Zouma,  the Cascine Records roster and Kate Bush — but with a subtly bracing iciness at its core.

“A.R.P.,” is the EP’s latest single and sonically the song features Jimena’s coquettish and breathy vocals over a slickly produced bed of stuttering drum programming, shimming and twinkling synth, various electronic bloops and bleeps in a wistful yet breezy bit of synth pop with a tender and aching heart under its icy surface, while being radio friendly.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Gabriela Jimeno is a Bogota, Colombia-born, New York-based drummer, electronic music artist and producer, who musically grew up in two parallel, underground musical worlds — hardcore and electronic music. And after years of playing in a variety of bands in Columbia and the US, Jimeno relocated to Boston to attend Berklee College of Music, where she graduated with a dual major in drum set performance and music synthesis. Soon after graduation, Jimeno relocated to New York, where she played drums in several rather ambitious bands while working on her own solo recording work, which also included Jimeno spending time building her own synths.  After growing bored with the band life, the Bogota-born, New York-based drummer and electronic music artist decided to go completely solo — and under the moniker ela minus, released her debut effort First Words EP.

Interestingly, instead of working on just one particular album, the Bogota, Columbia-born, New York-based decided to release a trilogy of EPs, which would allow listeners to follow her and her project as her songwriting, musicianship and artistry evolved during the trilogy’s completion. Grow, the 2nd EP of the trilogy was released to critical acclaim from The Fader, Vice and Remezcla, and as a result, Jimeno wound up playing at a number of major festivals across North America, including Estéreo Picnic, NRMAL, SXSW, Viva Pomona and others. Adding to a growing profile, Jimeno has opened for the likes of Chairlift and Chrome Sparks.

The third and final part of the trilogy Adapt is slated for a February 17, 2017 release through YEBO Music — and as Jimeno has explained in press notes: “This has been like a re-birth for me as an artist: so, like a new baby, first words – grow – adapt. It made sense with the time I was living in too, on first EP everything was changing I didn’t really know what or why I was doing it, in the experience of making the second EP I grew as an artist a lot, and now I am adapting. I learned to learn.” The third EP’s latest single “Juan Sant” is a moody yet shimmering bit of electro pop in which twinkling synths, propulsive drum programming are paired with Jimeno’s ethereal cooing in a song that sonically is reminiscent of Empress Of, Yumi Zouma,  the Cascine Records roster and Kate Bush — but with a subtly bracing iciness at its core.