The 9-piece band from Manchester, UK has created a new Latin sound. The Almeida Girl and Descarga band consist of lead female singer Kirsty Almeida from Gibraltor and a band of boys obsessed with Latin music. They have combined their love for salsa music with inspired songwriting, tight arranging and incredible musicianship. The super-catchy melodies and the mesmerizing lyrics by the band are popular among their admirers. English and Spanish lyrics intertwine over some seriously heavy grooves, while the horns fill it all out with blazing riffs, mambos and solos. All these combine to make a vibrant sound clash that dives headfirst into the world of Latino sounds and supercharges them with dance beats, electronica, boogaloo, soul, jazz, rock and flavours of hip hop and R'n'B. Fresh, raw, powerful and damn funky.
The Almeida Girl and Descarga band have been blazing a trail of relentless touring and have gained popularity as one of the most exciting and dynamic bands on the scene. In three years Almeida Girl & Descarga have taken their magic to over one hundred venues, festivals, shows, clubs and parties. They are the creators and band for the hugely successful Cubanite show which toured the UK three times with the world salsa champions. The show sold out in theatres and music venues up and down the country. These included Salford's Lowry theatre (five times), The Lemon Tree in Aberdeen (twice) and to an audience of 1200 people in the Hall for Cornwall (twice).
Desde que la voz de Almeida Girl suena en "Unconditional", el primer track de este seductor lbum debut, uno sabe que ha quedado prendado a ella. Inscrita en un estilo que bien pudiera llamarse downtropic, la cancin exhibe el lado ms elegante de Descarga y, lo mismo vienen a la mente Sade que Carol C.de Si So. Combinando arreglos orquestales, percusin latina y ecos del jazz, as como letras en ingles y espanol, Almeida Girl & Descarga suenan al mismo tiempo clsicos que contempor-neos. A medida que Llanita avanza, la fuerza del sus temas incrementa y la pista de baila se insina en la comez n de su sonido. Ya el standard "Nature Boy", viene revestido de cadencias salsosas. En cambio, su version de "I Heard It Through The Grapevine" va ms por el lado del jazz. Eso s0, la limpieza de las maneras del grupo se conserva a lo largode los nueve tracks. No hay duda: sta es m sica latina con la frescura de un nuevo siglo.
English Translation:
Once the voice of Almeida Girl is heard in Unconditional, the first track of this seductive debut album, one knows how strong fire burns in her. Written in a style that could be called downtropic, the song exhibits the more elegant side of Descarga, and Sade, Carol C, seem to be brought to mind. Combining orchestral arrangements, Latin percussion and echoes of jazz, as well as lyrics in English and Spanish, Almeida Girl & Descarga use both classic and contemporary rhythms. As Llanita proceeds, the strength of its themes increases and the dance pace is set at the start. Now the standard Nature Boy comes dressed in salsa cadences. On the other hand, their version of "Heard It Through The Grapevine" is more jazzy. That said, the groups ability to maintain its uniqueness is shown in all nine tracks. Without a doubt this is Latin music with the freshness of a new century.
La Banda Elastica, Latin Alternative Music Magazine, Los Angeles |
