There was something irresistible about the child-like, pre-tearful, candy-coated vocals of mixed national Andrea Balency. Whether she was singing and humming in English on “Crystals” or French on “Adieu creature” on her previous EP Walls, it still contained the same fragility that drew comparisons to Stina Nordenstam.
The Mexican-French artist’s music was just as mesmerizing with its nocturnal mix of downtempo alt R&B and shimmering avant garde electronica, it undeniably belonged in the same enlarging grid belonging to Banks, FKA Twigs, Brika, Tinashe and Indiana. However, the inclusion of a music video for the Aluna George-style “You’ve Never Been Alone”, gives it a typically artistic French flavour and shows a passionate attachment to the electronic keyboard that envisions the same process of bedroom-tinkering to pedal-aided solo performances on stage, pioneered by the likes of Jessy Lanze.
Two years later, Balency has announced a new EP Volcano and serves an appetite with the song “Waterfalls”. What’s immediately evident is that the tone of her voice has ripened from the earlier squeaky shatter-able texture into a calmer more confident elegance that mimics Lana Del Rey. It starts off with a heartbeat and continues to evolve its life into a blend of unpredictable voice alterations a kin to Grimes, keyboards almost as creepy as Fatima Al Quadri’s Asiatisch and the pounding production techniques of James Blake’s post dubstep.
It’s a hell of an introduction to the new EP Volcano which with it’s art exhibition style cover suggesting a more conceptual and less personal approach to her music. This will be released on 16th March and to find out more go to Andrea Balency’s Facebook page. For now you can listen to the new creation “Waterfalls” as well as “Deep Skunk” below, and pre-order Balency’s Volcano EP on iTunes here.
#Peace.Love.Waterfalls
