Founded back in 2020 by Little Jesus bassist Carlos Medina, the Mexico City-based psych pop act Petite Aime expanded into a full-fledged band when Aline Terrein (vocals), Isabel Dosal (vocals), Santiago Fernández (bass) and Jacobo Velazquez (guitar) joined to write and record last year’s critically applauded self-titled full-length debut.
Drawing from an eclectic array of influences including The Beatles, Pink Floyd, Big Thief, Magic Potion, Unknown Mortal Orchestra and Crumb, the self-titled album saw the Mexican psych pop outfit crafting an album’s worth of material that fluctuates between different genes and styles based on psych pop and psych rock. Lyrically and thematically, the album was an expression of the existential angst entered by the speech of the
“self” in an increasingly impersonal world, a world where the line between what’s real and what’s virtual continually blurs.
Building upon a growing profile, the members of Petite Aime released an EP of remixes of album title track “Elektro,” which featured contributions from Okey Dokey, BOYO, and Lucia Tacchetti.
The Mexican psych pop outfit’s newest single “Otra Vez” sees them pushing their sound in a much more experimental direction while preserving the melodic essence that won them international acclaim. Clocking in at a little under 6:30, “the slow-burning Otra Vez” is centered around an expansive song structure that features a lengthy introduction with an atmospheric and glistening synth arpeggios, explosive hi-hat driven rhythms, a sumptuous bass line paired with ethereal harmonies for the verse, a dreamier section with strummed acoustic guitar, followed by a lengthy coda featuring electronic blips and bloops and a funky, motorik groove. The song is an exercise in restraint and subtle repetition. But it’s also a little taste of what to expect from the band’s highly-anticipated sophomore album.
While being simultaneously mesmerizing and trippy, “Otra Vez,” as the band explains is a song that . . . “reminds us how exhausting trying to adjust reality to your exceptions can be. In it, a conversation between two people takes place, or perhaps it is an internal conversation, which has been revisited time and again. Thus, the very structure of the song alludes to that repetitive cycle in which one finds oneself until reaching a breaking point. There is no reason to talk about the same things over and over, if nothing changes and even less if there is no desire to change. The only thing left to do is to accept other people, oneself and the universe as they are.”
Petite Aime will be embarking on a Stateside tour this summer. The tour includes a handful of dates with both Wild Wild Wets and Hooveriii — and a handful of headlining dates including August 28, 2022 at Berlin Under A. As always, all tour dates are below.
Tour dates
8/3 – Casbah /Soda – San Diego, CA *
8/4 – The Echo – Los Angeles, CA *
8/5 – Amados – San Francisco, CA *
8/6 – The Holland Project – Reno, NV *
8/7 – Starlet Room – Sacramento, CA **
8/9 – Fixin’ To – Portland, OR
8/10 – The Shakedown – Bellingham, WA
8/12 – Substation x Freakout Presents – Seattle, WA
8/13 – Neurolux – Boise, ID
8/15 – Vultures – Colorado Springs, CO **
8/16 – Lost Lake – Denver, CO
8/17 – miniBar – Kansas City, .MO
8/18 – Amsterdam – St. Paul, MN
8/21 – Landline Presents @ The Burl – Lexington, KY **
8/22 – The Blue Room @ Third Man – Nashville, TN **
8/23 – 529 Bar – Atlanta, GA
8/24 – El Rocko @ Dog Day Presents – Savannah, GA
8/25 – Snug Harbor – Charlotte, NC
8/26 – Pie Shop – Washington, DC
8/27 – World Cafe – Philadelphia, PA
8/28 – Berlin Under A – New York, NY
* = w/ Wild Wild Wets
** = w/ Hooveriii
