Cosmic Soul, which sets off into new spaces.
The last album by Roberto Carlos Lange aka Helado Negro, FAR IN from 2021, radiated a majestic calm with guitars, strings and R’n’B beats. The artist dealt with the uncertainty and loss of freedom during the pandemic; the songs he created during quarantine were about togetherness and the healing power of nature.
The first track on the new album PHASOR marks the return to the open spaces, with a declaration of love typical of the American. It’s called “LFO” and goes to the composer and accordionist Pauline Oliveros, but also to the much less well-known Mexican-American Lupe Lopez, who built amplifiers for the guitar manufacturer Fender in the 1950s. The legacy of these two women takes Lange on a fast-paced sound journey into the electro-pop universe.
What follows is most closely related to Helado Negro’s groove-oriented song collection THIS IS HOW YOU SMILE (2019). “Echo Tricks Me” is the name of one of the new cosmic soul songs, the piano intro is freestyle and the bass hums in the direction of spiritual jazz. “Out There” takes the expedition into more open sound spaces. “Wish You Could Be Here” is a messy electronic work that doesn’t want to settle down at all. Lange has produced another masterpiece here, where there are always new discoveries to celebrate.