For Immediate Release:
April 27, 2022
FEDERICO AUBELE
SURRENDERS TO SACRIFICE WITH
NEW SINGLE & VIDEO
"THE SACRIFICE"
AUBELE'S SIXTH STUDIO ALBUM,
THE HOLOGRAPHIC MOON
IS DUE OUT MAY 27, 2022
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"An artist who traverses musical genres as easily as he does geographical borders..While touches of nostalgia and longing seep into both the words and the way he sings them, Aubele can also wrangle a shy smile and a whimsical raised eyebrow with that deep, emotive voice." |
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"Aubele’s vocals are richly poetic and echo phrasings reminiscent of a Spanish Leonard Cohen." |
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"The true master of Latin down-tempo electronica. With eclectic influences that range from tango and bossa nova to dub, the globetrotting Argentine has been seducing us with his mellow, laid-back grooves.." |
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"..connects cultural threads traversing the continent (bolero, tango, reggae) while bringing nostalgia, plus a warm Spanish guitar, to his cool electronica." |
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Brooklyn-based Argentine singer/songwriter Federico Aubele shares the third, cinematic track, and its accompanying self-directed video, "The Sacrifice," today from his forthcoming LP, The Holographic Moon, due out on May 27th and available for pre-order now.
"The Sacrifice," produced by Aubele himself, brings listeners to the center of a swelling storm, capturing the realization of a necessary sacrifice, the release of something that no longer serves you. The guitar strums stir a calmness within, where the strings build a cinematic atmosphere, and the bells, combined with Aubele's signature deep, baritone voice and heavenly choir-like vocals, carry listeners into an ethereal, ceremonious realm. Written late in the album's creation during a blizzard in New York City, the track offers Aubele space to reflect on aspects of his life that need to be surrendered, and declares that sacrifice ultimately helps one move forward, develop and flourish.
"The Sacrifice" is what Aubele calls "an overcast sky about to burst and waves in the sea trying to reach the full moon." Diving into the background of the peaceful track, Aubele explains, "It's easy to get tangled up in ideas and concepts that no longer serve us and stick to them, often without even knowing. Once we realize, through internal reflection or an external event, that it's time for an update, I think we have to consciously let go of these old concepts. That's what needs to be sacrificed." Aubele continues, "Often we identify strongly with these ideas because we had them with us for so long that they've become a part of who we think we are and getting rid of them feels like an intense sacrifice. Some of these concepts may have been passed down to us by our family, society, or friends, often even with good intentions. But that doesn't mean that they will serve us and that we need to keep them with us for life. I believe that there is no way around a periodic sacrifice of old ideas. It's a necessity. It's part of the way life is organized, part of its engine. Otherwise, we're just ghosts, repeating a moment over and over."
"The Sacrifice" follows previous singles, “Old Spanish Films,” and “Pink Spray Painted Clouds." The former sees Aubele come to terms with the crumbling foundation beneath a relationship once thought to be unbreakable, where the latter, contrarily, is a gentle daydream that captures the warmth of a budding romance.
The visual accompanying "The Sacrifice" is Aubele's second-ever video that he has directed following the previous release, "Old Spanish Films." Sprinkled between clips of the musician before a scenic pond and quiet forest are shots of paint strokes coating works of art by late 19th Century British artist John William Waterhouse from the Pre-Raphaelite movement who made art depicting rituals and sacrifices. In addition to the shots of paint over art, there are moments of glitchy computer codes. Aubele included these to represent the idea that new code needs to be written, and old code needs to be overwritten, symbolic of sacrifice, with very old paintings contrasted by new-age code.
Describing the video, Aubele states, "The Sacrifice" is about sacrificing the old and making space for the new. Since way back, forests have always had magical meaning in people's imaginations and mythology, the place where rituals are made. The crow character is in such a magical forest with blue vegetation and looks at himself in the water, perhaps realizing that a sacrifice is due in order to move forward," explains Aubele. "The Pre-Raphaelite paintings depict rituals and create a contrast with the new computer code being written, accentuating the idea of the sacrifice. Watching it, I realize that I dance a lot more on this video than any previous ones, so perhaps the shooting of the video has been a sacrifice of sorts for me."
Federico Aubele has been blending cultures and defying borders throughout his almost two-decade long career. Bouncing between Buenos Aires, Berlin and Barcelona, and now, Brooklyn, Aubele has fused the sounds of each city and simultaneously melded genres into his powerful songwriting, deep vocals, downtempo electronica, acoustic guitar, flamenco and more. The musician has also managed to seamlessly and seductively join both Spanish and English since he began recording music as Boston Globe, PopMatters and Westword each note. Remezcla calls Aubele, "The true master of Latin down-tempo electronica," with "eclectic influences that range from tango and bossa nova to dub."
Aubele's sixth full-length album, The Holographic Moon, featuring artwork done by Aubele himself, is due out May 27. With the help of guests ranging from Mauro Refosco (David Byrne, Atoms for Peace) on percussion, Iain Cook (Chvrches) and Yuka Honda (Cibo Matto) on synths, Melissa Mary Ahern (Sulfjian Stevens) on vocal harmonies, the YMusic Ensemble (Paul Simon, Jose Gonzales) on orchestra arrangements and Kenny Wollensen (Tom Waits) on drums, Aubele looks to push boundaries of what traditional lyricism and genres might look like, and further establish himself as a dynamic, multicultural musician to watch as he continues to reach new depths.
“The Sacrifice,” out everywhere now, allows Aubele to embrace the necessity of surrendering to sacrifice. Only once one confronts the release of negativity can one ultimately move forward and evolve, bringing Aubele to find peace. The tranquil upcoming LP, The Holographic Moon, is out May 27 and available for pre-order now. Find Federico on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube for more.
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The Holographic Moon Tracklisting (LP)
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01. Pink Spray Painted Clouds
02. All Things Pass
03. Old Spanish Films
04. The Sacrifice
05. Hungry Beast
06. What Will Tomorrow Dream
07. Wadding into Love
08. How Hard
09. Cloud and Sea
10. Maria
11. Iron Days
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Federico Aubele Bio
Originally from Buenos Aires, Federico Aubele lived in Berlin and Barcelona before settling in Brooklyn where he currently resides.
Federico started making music at 11 years old when he picked up an old forgotten guitar that belonged to his mother and had been stored up underneath his bed for years. He’s been releasing music and touring as Federico Aubele since 2004 to glowing reviews, performing all major festivals in North America and Europe (Lollapalooza, Austin City Limits, Montreal Jazz Fest, Balaton Sound).
The combination of organic and electronic elements is at the center of his sound, driven by Aubele’s deep reverberating baritone voice, meticulous songwriting and precise Spanish guitar.
Federico’s songs have been licensed for various films, TV shows, commercials and video games over the years. Whether in English or Spanish, his lyrics always center around universal themes such as love, solitude, struggle and hope.
After a 6 year hiatus Federico Aubele returns with his 6th studio album, The Holographic Moon. Recorded between Berlin and Brooklyn, the process of making the album served as an Ariadne’s string that guided him through a time of internal turmoil and intense change that included a divorce, moving from NYC to Berlin and then back to NYC, dealing with family problems and falling in love again.
“I needed the long pause to make sense of things, discard what wasn’t needed anymore, appreciate what I was going to keep and make space for the new” explains Federico. “I couldn’t do the same thing again, like a ghost, trapped in a moment. Like trying to keep a relationship that’s reached its end artificially going based only on fear of what’s next. I needed to shed several layers, on all levels. With my music I needed to start from scratch, from guitar arpeggios, vocal melodies and different lyrics. The only way to do the cleansing needed for the new songs to emerge was at home, not in the open. You can’t make sense of things if you’re constantly distracted by voices, color lights and mirrors”.
Starting with minimal production on just guitar and vocals and painstakingly building them up, the 11 songs that make up the Holographic Moon are a hard selection from the 52 songs that were written during this period. “Listening to it, I see that there is a great deal of hope and resilience that underlies the lyrics and melodies. I may have felt that all the tools I had to deal with life were no longer working, but somewhere in the depths I was certain I was going to arrive at a new home at some point. That, faint as it was, curiosity for what’s next, an appreciation of irony and a total lack of interest for what a normal life is supposed to be like, kept me going. According to the I Ching, all movement is accomplished in 6 stages and the 7th brings return. I guess I’m entering the seventh stage of this long process, which is a return home. Not the old home, that one burned down. But the certainty of being home in a new paradigm”
The album’s sound is like Leonard Cohen for the Black Mirror era: Spanish guitar and the characteristic baritone voice singing carefully crafted poetic lyrics about love, hope and quiet perseverance in an ambient electronica frame. Female harmonies and an orchestra complete the sound palette, creating a warm counterpoint to the main, intimate, foundational pillars.
The Holographic Moon features a list of interesting guests from different backgrounds: Mauro Refosco (David Byrne, Atoms for Peace) on percussion, Iain Cook (Chvrches) and Yuka Honda (Cibo Matto) on synths, Melissa Mary Ahern (Sulfjian Stevens) on vocal harmonies, the YMusic Ensamble (Paul Simon, Jose Gonzales) on orchestra arrangements and Kenny Wollensen (Tom Waits) on drums.
The first single and video “Pink Spray Painted Clouds”, comes out on February 23rd followed by “Old Spanish Songs” in March. The full album release is on May 27th.
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