Words by Jesse Serwer—
La Mecánica Popular first caught our attention earlier this fall with their smart “La Paz Del Freak” video, a playful snapshot of Latin NYC life, past and present. The band, which hails from NYC by way of various Latin American ports of call, is on a mission to reinvigorate salsa with a sound experimental enough to deserve its own name, but traditional enough to pass purists’ test.
They call it “psychedelic salsa,” and we have a hard time thinking of a better way to describe it. As none other than Bobbito Garcia put it, “La Mecánica Popular is the most refreshing attempt at maintaining salsa’s integrity while introducing a completely new, unprecedented sound that I’ve ever heard.”
Ahead of the impending Nov. 18 release of their debut album (you can pre-order limited-edition vinyl here) on Names You Can Trust, they’ve given us another track, “Arbol,” to premiere. This one’s even more trippy, and a bit slower, but not too slow that you and your partner can’t get your copa on to it.
Stream/download “Arbol” below:
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