Audiopile Review: An integral part of the Unheard Of Hope imprint, Guatemalan composer Mabe Fratti releases her third solo album for the UK-based label, which quickly follows from the chamber-pop debut of her Titanic project and contributions to this year’s shop highlight from Phét Phét Phét. While Fratti began in the world of experimental composition, issuing some fairly uncompromising but exciting music that straddles between free jazz, drone, ambient and modern classical, her more recent work has hinted at an inclination towards song-focused work. This shift is particularly notable on last year’s Titanic album, Vidrio, her duo alongside partner Hector Tosta. It’s the type of pop-forward songwriting you might expect to hear from an artist previously so enmeshed in experimental tendencies, bringing to mind the otherworldly albums we’ve recently heard Astrid Sonne and ML Buch. With her cello as the foundation here, Fratti retains a soulful spirit across tracks that weave between whimsical modern composition, rubbery fusion and refracted Oneohtrix-ian ambience, her upfront vocals, sung in Spanish, threading it all together with swoon-worthy effect. With the cello so prominent here, there’s bound to be similarities heard with Arthur Russell’s avant-pop creations, but she also breathes the same rarified air here as Hval & Holter. An incredible utilization of her avant-garde palette used to push the limits of pop. Huge recommendation.

Color vinyl. “A sense of destiny hangs over Sentir que no sabes, Mabe Fratti’s fourth solo-credited album released in a five-year span. Her work has always possessed a finely tuned sense of drama capable of expressing a range of emotional states, and across this new album, she conveys the struggle to process various relationships or situations — and the actions that come next. Sentir que no sabes is urgent and clear, poppy, generous and approachable, while showcasing a considerable emotional hinterland. It is also, as Fratti is quick to mention, ‘groovy.’ Written and recorded with her partner, multi-instrumentalist, and co-composer Héctor Tosta (I.La Católica, Titanic), Sentir que no sabes, is the result of an intense, detail-oriented process. Fueled by a new confidence gained in their collaborative project, Titanic, and its critically acclaimed 2023 LP, Vidrio, the two hunkered down in the familiarity of their studio (aka Tinho Studios) to bash out the initial sonic coordinates of her new record. ‘We talked and talked, and discussed ways of playing and recording, until things became inevitable,’ Fratti explains. ‘We recorded a bunch of demos at our home studio and that meant we had a lot of time to re-edit and experiment. We really dug in. We were super focused on detail.’ Tosta also took up the controls as producer and arranger-in-chief for all additional instruments. The album was later completed at Willem Twee Studios in Den Bosch in the Netherlands, and Pedro y el Lobo Studios and Soy Sauce Studios, in Mexico City. For the final studio recordings, the pair were joined by drummer Gibran Andrade and trumpetist Jacob Wick to fill out and expand on Tosta’s percussion and brass arrangements. This small group of friends were able to work quickly and openly, and without fear: a testament to the exhaustive groundwork put in at Tinho Studios.”