By José Gandue @Gandour
Upon hearing If I zoom in, can I see Africa?, the new album by the Peruvians Kanaku and the Tiger, One feels that the recording process was completely free, it almost seems as if each day began with an experimental spirit, as if anything that occurred to one of the members was tried without prejudice, thus reflecting the evident playful spirit that the production clearly had. However, one detail that has generally marked every song by this group is not lost here: the good humor of their lyrics., who bring up all kinds of topics without taking life too seriously. This is a fun work that should be approached by the listener with an open mind, as they will feel notes of pop, calypso, reggae, blues, and even trap passing through their ears.Would it be wrong to say that it brings to the writer's memory moments of Graceland, a 1986 album by Paul Simon?. If so, please excuse me. Several prominent figures appear as guest musicians, including Kevin Johansen, Chaska Paucar, Jorge Drexler, Miki González, Among others, they help complete the exuberant compilation of 11 tracks that has just been released on digital platforms and which, due to life's circumstances, finds the band in quarantine because of the pandemic we are experiencing. Even so, that has given us the time to chat via WhatsApp with their singer., Nico Saba, and find out details about what has been published.
What does this latest album sound like?
It features Afrobeat and modular synthesizers over pop songs. There's a fairly harmonic use of... autotune y vocoders. The atmosphere varies throughout the album, but if there is one common characteristic in many appreciations of the album, it is that everything is somehow out of context.
The album title is funny, is there an explanation for it?
One day Marcial arrived at the studio with a 360 camera. I had no idea how the device worked; he told me I could take pictures of the balloon; «"I'm going to take a picture of the balloon.". I assumed he was talking about the globe, so I responded to that comment with a naive question; «"So... if I zoom in, can I see Africa?"” We ultimately decided to include it on the album because it's a perplexing question that reflects the sense of confusion inherent in the album's musical and lyrical concept. It's a question that, in our opinion, can take anyone out of context.
I've seen that the list of guests participating in the recording is extensive, what was the process like for receiving those collaborations?
It was a pretty simple process, actually. All the collaborators are our friends.
You've grown a lot since you started your career. You're one of the Peruvian bands of the new generation with the most international experience. What has that journey been like?
It's been a very exciting journey at times. It's been rewarding to be able to play in other cities around the world and see that there's an audience that knows the songs. It's really cool when life surprises you like that.
How do you see the current state of Peruvian music?
Peruvian music is always alive, and from what I hear, there's a lot of interest from neighboring countries in what's happening here. I also see that there are more and more alternative musical projects coming out of the interior of the country. There's a lot of music here that hasn't been discovered yet.
Of the latest releases, what do you recommend we listen to?
I've been a bit disconnected from everything lately. I'll be back soon. The fact that there's so much music to discover in Peru is always true. Interesting new acts are constantly emerging, but I'm not just talking about the new stuff. There's a lot of great older stuff too. There's a real buzz around trap music here. I guess it's just the moment we're in now. Two projects that caught my attention were Money Gang Victory and Young Eiby.
Finally, how do you deal with promoting a new album during an unexpected quarantine?
Everything is happening online. On the one hand, we can't perform live, but on the other hand, there's a whole audience captivated by social media these next few days. We're all going to be spending a lot of time online.
