By Keith Walsh
The savvy sound fashioning of Mexico’s Descartes a Kant burst forth with bright magenta shades and imaginative art rock sounds on their brand-new album After Destruction.
The timely themes of self-realization in the age of artificial intelligence in a push-button world that creates us as we create it, are artfully presented with tight, melodic musicianship and pleasantly processed guitars, drums, keyboards – and the waifish vocals of Sandrushka Petrova up front, narrating colorful existential tales (My interview with Petrova is at Popular Culture Beat.)
A pleasant female computer voice narrates the album, between songs with a decidedly prog punk edge adding depth to the kitsch presentation. “Graceless” tells the tale of optimistic dreams thwarted by a reality, reluctantly faced. Downbeat, and with stylishly insinuating guitars by Petrova and Ana Cristina Moreno, ethereal synths by Memo Ibarra, and drums by Leo Padua, it’s a bittersweet reflection on idealism disappointed.
“The Mess We’ve Made” is a driving, mid-tempo tune about a secret rendezvous, while the new single “Raindrops Of Poison” poses existential questions about memory and trauma, in an imaginative presentation featuring ear-tricking key changes, and Petrova’s animated, dramatic vocal style. It starts off angular and jagged, only to become reflective and sweet.
“Woman Sobbing” evokes Frank Zappa, Captain Beefheart, Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Jefferson Airplane in a poignant narrative describing those rabbit holes that we often find ourselves in. Guitars on this track are as brilliant as Adrian Belew, while Leo Padua and Memo Ibarra are in perfect sync on drums and bass. Petrova’s vocals excite the imagination with perfect harmony.
The title track “After Destruction” has a driving beat, and a guitar sound that avoids the trap of being too thick or grungy, instead it’s perfectly gritty and melodic. The tune, like the album, has layers and thematic changes, that keep the listener guessing as the melodic narrative progresses. There’s shades of Radiohead here for sure, in the arrangements and also in the care taken to sculpt new guitar and keyboard sounds that have never been heard before.
The album After Destruction is a thematic exploration of a computer guided future, with just the right mix of electronics, visceral guitars and vocal passion. In the world of After Destruction, there’s always an opportunity to rebuild oneself, and for that reason, it’s a guardedly optimistic set from a band that OI expect to hear many more amazing sounds from in the future.
Descartes a Kant LinkTree
Descartes a Kant Bandcamp
Descartes a Kant Instagram
Descartes a Kant Facebook
Descartes a Kant dot com
finis