by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

Basque artist Elena Setién last released an album two years ago, the understated but incredibly powerful Unfamiliar Minds – a set of songs begun before 2020 but honed during lockdown.

Glenn Kotche, drummer and percussionist with Wilco, was a fan of the album – and when he was touring Spain with the band, he met up with Setién. The two began collaboration, Setién using a series of drum patterns from Kotche’s series A Beat A Week, after which the drummer started sending in more patterns. Setién enjoyed the irony of her music taking on more rhythmic direction. In her words, “funnily enough, I, being a Spanish artist, sought inspiration in the rhythms of a Chicago drummer to reach something with a Latin feel to it. A somehow surrealistic way to get there.”

Another influence at play in the album was that of Bridget St. John, who Setién sought to emulate in a low register vocal delivery. It became the instrument through which the singer / songwriter could express the dreamlike state of the songs, though her own instrumentation – guitars and keyboards – played a large part too.

What’s the music like?

In a word, dreamy. Yet that is not the only story behind Moonlit Reveries, for these songs often have a feverish quality. Setién has a knack of making intense music from minimal means, but when you listen closely her music is suffused with clever effects and details that give the music a semi-conscious appearance.

She holds her vocal with remarkable poise, and it cuts through clearly, but the instrumental accompaniment that she uses is often haunting and frequently shifts the perspectives of the listener. The gentle undulating guitar of Hard Heart laps like water against the resonant vocals, while Losing Control gets a rippling effect from its shimmering electronics and pizzicato violin. Strange is especially enchanting, Setién singing very slightly out of tune over a throbbing guitar line.

Moonlit Reveries itself is particularly vivid, a hypnotic harpsichord dancing on the horizon as Setien coos softly. Mothers is a deeply immersive song, a tribute to Low’s Mimi Parker with minimalist loops and concentrated, layered vocals that end above delicate cymbals.

Does it all work?

It does – and the more you listen to it, the more Moonlit Reveries has to reveal.

Is it recommended?

Enthusiastically. Elena Setién is a compelling artist, and the restraint in her music is deceptive – for this is an album of great intensity, a set of dreams that take place in slightly balmy conditions but leave their listener with vivid and lasting impressions.

Listen and Buy

Published post no.2,094 – Wednesday 21 February 2024