Here is Helado Negro introducing his own album …
For anyone who knows me and my musical tastes well, this choice for Album of The Month (AOTM) will be no surprise. Not that Helado Negro is an artist that I shout from the roof tops about but because it’s so ‘me’. Is it in an early morning album? Is it a late night album? Is there a difference? For me there is, I go to bed early so ‘Late Night Albums kind of become ‘Early Morning Albums’ by default. Many of my favourite albums and AOTM choices have been characteristically crepuscular. And Phasor is no different.
Roberto Carlos Lange, aka Helado Negro is a 44 year old American-Latinx artist who has been recording music under this name for 15 years. Lange heralds from Ecuadorian heritage, born in Florida but found his way to New York, Brooklyn to be precise.
Lange studied Computer Art and Sound design, his first creative outputs being experimental installations and by my understanding, followed the sound design, experimentation route and started to make his own music.
Phasor is Helado Negro’s 8th full studio album, quite an output in 15 years given how many collaborations and side projects he’s also been involved with. It’s the 3rd of his album’s that I’ve got to know in detail and is my favourite by some way. It’s the kind of album that I challenge anyone not to like. It’s buoyant and bubbly but in the most muted and understated, almost restrained kind of way. Nothing is ever turned up or overstated, everything sits within a level of comfort and accessible presentation. The drum track on ‘Wish you could be here’ is a great example, it’s a big old beat, in different hands it could make this track a banger but it’s pulled back and almost caged. This is a similar story on every track, there is something that could be bigger, more focal but it’s always dialled back a little so that nothing else is overshadowed.
It’s a very tight album, it’s only 9 tracks, only 35 minutes but it does a lot in it’s short stay. Lyrics are sung in Spanish and English. There is an equal balance of electronic sounds and acoustic instrumentation. They are melded perfectly. There is jazz. There is quite a lot of jazz. There is not too much jazz. Don’t worry.
Here are a bunch of words that describe this album … stringing them together perhaps diminishes their effect as a review so here they are in all their naked glory;
Contemplative. Simple. Quiet. Slow. Environmental. Faint. Clouds. Intimate. Rise. Artistic. Silhouette. Fragments. Rare. Precious.
It’s a vibe. It’s a reflective chill vibe. I love every track. I could make a decent argument for every track being a ‘standout track’. At this point in time, I wouldn’t change a thing. At this point in time, I can’t see this not being in my 2024 top 10. Surely, it’s so ‘Joey’. It’s so good. It’s go so much percussion. It’s got so much tuned percussion.
thisisnothappening.net 
Well, I’m getting to know this album in a very lovely way, and while i’m not quite there on a full blog post territory, I’m definitely in some ‘Joey bullets’ areas.
– It’s really beautiful. Stating the obvious, but it is. It’s like a musical hug.
– There’s such warmth and it’s a really easy album to get into.
– It employs synths in a really understated but honed way. No more so than the first three tracks.
– There’s so much ‘energy of here’ that it feels a post in itself. And this isn’t damming with feint praise, but just a really interesting question on how music crosses boundaries and genres and influences others. I can see some parallels with Rozi, most clearly.
– There’s a big hint of music nerdery here, in the best of ways. I mean, the first track is about a synth!
– There’s a delicate feel to the voice where it can really float like a cloud. Though he’s not afraid to use reverb and echo (I’m HERE for the reverb!)
– There are some great changes of pace and some interesting sequencing. It goes into some pretty odd places, in a good way.
– It has what may be one of my favourite songs of the year on it already.
The big question I’m trying to answer though, is: how can it go (and will it go) from ‘this is nice’ to ‘this is essential’. I’ve got a week to find out!
I really like this album, though I’m not sure why? It’s just so easy to listen to I suppose. Or should I say, it’s easy to put on in most situations. Working, driving and most importantly on in the house without pushback from my family.
How would I describe it? I get some Jose Gonzales, The Whitest Boy Alive and a little Mano Le Tough.
As always, I’ve been making random notes in my phone whilst listening to this album. The notes in my phone read as follows:
• Upon first listen, this album was and is something I want it my life.
• It is a polar opposite of last months album. It’s doesn’t need concentration. This album isn’t a hard album to listen to. It’s very approachable.
• He has a lovely voice.
• Often album at this pace can loose you very quickly. It’s subtle tone changes keep you hooked.
• ‘Best For You and Me’ was instantly my stand out track. This is maintained. The gentle piano keys are complimented by the synth driven base line that moves from your right to left ear. The two pushing calm and urgency in perfect unison creating a lovely groove throughout.
• Is it folk, is is dance… what is it?
The litmus test of an album in my world is if my daughter Olive likes it. She has a innate ear for weather tracks work or not. Through the album you can see her nodding her head and humming along. As of this weekend, her favourite track is ‘I Just Want To Wake Up With You’, though she did point out that this may change as she likes most of the tracks.
This will be in my top 10 this year. It will get played a lot.
Like the other brothers, I’m enjoying this quite a bit. But there is also something quite elusive about it, and at times, I find myself struggling to connect with it.
First things first. It’s a VERY charming album. I love its idiosyncratic vibe, I love his slightly mannered vocal, I love the big drums in the mix and the use of electronics that feel warm and organic. And I LOVE the mix of Spanish and English.
Its brief length, the accessibility of the sound and the general easy-going atmosphere of the record mean it’s one of the ‘easiest’ albums I’ve ever engaged with for an AOTM. I love its air of mystery and the way the sound is quite hard to categorise. But perhaps I worry that I won’t be listening to it in 6 months time. Having said that, I can also imagine returning to it regularly (it’s a great album to work to, and that’s not true of loads of things for me). Time will tell….
I would say that I didn’t quite ‘get’ the sound until I recently played a track on my radio show (Colores Del Mar, maybe my fave track on the album). Hearing it through the studio speakers, especially those big, loose chunky drums really made something click for me that hadn’t previously.
If the album has a weakness, it’s that, after such a strong start, it loses its way in the middle with three very meandering tracks (Echo Tricks Me, Out There and Flores). I don’t dislike any of the tracks in questions, but the sequencing sucks the energy out of the album. For me, that’s going to rule it out of any of my end of year lists.
Having said that, there are plenty of highlights on here and it’s been a pleasure listening to it. Looking forward to chatting more…