Here’s a couple of tracks from Snow in Mexico, an electronic dream-rock/synth-pop duo out of Rome, Italy. I’ve heard of these guys before, but never really gave them a proper listen. I should’ve. They release material on Saint Marie Records, a well-respected genre label for all sounds ethereal, atmospheric, and filled with reverb, specializing in dream-pop, shoegaze, and post-forms of miscellaneous melodic cacophony. That’s all good stuff in my world. But for one reason or another, these guys have ultimately eluded me.
Funny thing is that their single “Breath” has been floating around my unpublished playlists for the majority of the year – all three months of it. And with each listen, my interest is piqued, and I have to look up the details … which of course, I’ve previously done and forgotten multiple times before. This rinse and repeat cycle has gone on more times than I can count. So I figure, now’s as good a time as any to stop and take note, as well as wax poetic with some choice thoughts and ruminations.
Also, I did promise a couple of tracks from this post’s title, so I’m going to add a few words on another single, “Thirteen,” which I landed on once I finally decided to look further into the past efforts of this Italian duo.
Of these two tracks, “Breath” is probably the more overt of ’80s synth noir. It wields a laid-back urgency, saturated in an analog aura of synthesized tones and widescreen textures. A simple drum machine pattern propels the rhythm forward, deliberately artificial yet entirely warm, while the vocals whisper in breezy echoes that float along the glossy neon surface.
When I hear this one, it conjures memories of those late night summertime rides I used to take back in college, cruising the empty urban streets and saturated skylines of witching hour L.A. These were my introspective moments, a place of peace and relaxation, attained through casual movement and aimless navigation … a rather fitting form of meditation in the metropolitan sprawl.
Anyway, analogies aside, here’s Snow in Mexico’s “Breath,” the first of tonight’s two for your listening pleasure.
“Breath” from the 2017 EP “Breath.”
The second offer of the evening, “Thirteen,” reminds me of old M83, with a little Giorgio Moroder, and a whole lot of vocal delay, offering an endless soft focus serenade that practically drifts off into slumber. Like “Breathe,” it leans heavy into the analog synths, but also steers further into the lo-fi, with a subtle drone and vibration that rolls quietly beneath its ethereality.
This one also has a drive vibe going on. But I think it suits me better in the horizontal seat, ear candy to soothe the senses and send me on my sleep. It also reminds of a Thanksgiving I spent on MDMA underneath a glass table with a former best friend I haven’t spoken to in ages. I wonder what happened to her. Anyway, rolling or not, it’s that kind of sonic sensory bath. Check out “Thirteen.”
“Thirteen” from the 2017 EP “Breath.”
In short, Snow in Mexico carries the spark for spatially seductive sound. Their music is entirely immersive, intoxicatingly euphoric and transcendentally phantasmagoric. They have a bunch of singles I have yet to explore. But based on these two, “Breath” and “Thirteen,” I’m pretty sure I’m going to like whatever else I encounter. Enjoy!
