For Immediate Release:
March 23, 2022
FEDERICO AUBELE SHARES
BITTERSWEET SECOND SINGLE
& FIRST-EVER SELF-DIRECTED VIDEO
"OLD SPANISH FILMS"
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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Today, Brooklyn-based Argentine singer/songwriter Federico Aubele shares the second soothing track, and its accompanying video, "Old Spanish Films," from his forthcoming LP, The Holographic Moon, due out on May 27th and available for pre-order now.
“Old Spanish Films,” is the follow-up release to “Pink Spray Painted Clouds,” a gentle daydream that captures the warmth of a budding romance. While similar in vocal intimacy and a delicate acoustic guitar, “Old Spanish Films,” in contrast, sees Aubele come to terms with the crumbling foundation beneath a relationship once thought to be unbreakable.
The melancholic melody reveals a subtle sense of mourning that seeps through the buzzing instrumentals and overlapping vocals, mirroring the relationship’s incompatibility. Describing the context of the track, Aubele says, "I wrote this song based on a personal experience that a lot of people have experienced too: the realization that a relationship I was in was built on projections, from both people in it, and didn’t have any real foundation. This notion (and the end of the relationship) was obviously sad but in hindsight I can see that for the brief amount of time we were together we did give each other something valuable that we needed at the time, mostly companionship, and that we both contributed something positive to each other’s lives. We’re always giving each other something that can have value, whether we consciously notice it or not."
The video, which sees Aubele making his directorial debut, shows Aubele with a woman in a bright, white room dressed in all black. Here, the couple finds themselves in the midst of a romance that has run its course as it has become a figment of imagination, filled with projections of what it could have been, but can no longer be. A camcorder and CD player seen throughout the video highlight the bittersweet nostalgia of something that was once golden—shown in the paint the devices are later dipped in.
Aubele explains, "It's all very oneiric and I truly enjoyed this first experience directing. I watched the 70mm version of Kubrick's 'Space Odyssey' recently again and I was inspired by that last scene in the white bedroom. I wanted to use that in a contemporary context. I love early 2000's tech gadgets like hi8 Camcorders and Discmans." Aubele continues, "Like any old but not too old piece of technology, they have a bittersweet quality to them. Something that evokes a gone-by era of your life. The song is a break up song about two people projecting something they want to see on each other, but it's never been there, hence the camcorder and the discman. But it's a positive break up, they all are–whether we see it or not at the moment–one that will leave both parts with a pearl of wisdom. That's why the camera and its memories are covered in gold paint."
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.
“Old Spanish Films,” out everywhere now, finds the silver lining in the fond memories of an expired relationship, and is just a slice of what’s to come from Federico Aubele. The upcoming LP, The Holographic Moon, is out May 27 and available for pre-order now. Connect with 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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