Artist: MESTIZA
Title: Spanish Chica
Label: Sacro Music
Released: 10 April
Sounds like: Afro heat, flamenco fire and Arabic midnight, threaded through with a dark melodic pulse
Having already flirted with the notion of a Theatre residency last summer during a two-month stint, MESTIZA now take the crown as the first female artists to lead a full-season residency at Hï Ibiza. On the latest evidence, legitimacy of said crown is not up for debate...
For Pitty Bernad and Belah, who have been making steadfast moves as a DJ and producer alliance, this is the recognition they deserve. A not-so-subtle diamond-clad middle finger to anyone who doubted the artistic vision of MESTIZA.
"A project where women not only inspire, but create, drive and sustain every part of this movement."
Released on their own label, in their own image, entirely on their own terms, follow-up album Spanish Chica is MESTIZA's fullest expression yet.
Album review
Spanish Chica enters the room with the fierce kind of self-possessed confidence that turns heads and holds them. Te Doy La Libertad, translating to “I give you freedom,” opens the 15-track ode to bold, self-defined identity in its most powerful form.
Salam follows suit. Having already taken on a life of its own as an immediate crowd-pleaser in MESTIZA’s DJ sets leading up to the album, the Afro drums and Arabic-inspired melodic lines are undeniably hypnotic.
An identity rooted in Spanish ancestry, awoken in post-modern feminine strength, and with a fixed gaze on the future of dance music and all bound together by the audacious belief that the dancefloor can hold all of that at once. The title track interlude featuring La Chispa is where that conviction sounds most like home.
Que Calor, Que Calor lives up to its temperature-soaring name. Latin beats spiced with percussive Flamenco rhythms and the simmering Afro House current that carries into the night. Crossing continents, Enamorá marries ancient Indian harmonious rhythms with an energised, vibrant dance beat.
Amongst the Afro, Arabic and flamenco embellishments woven into the album, MESTIZA's roots in dark, atmospheric Melodic Techno run just as deep. Coming out to play on spellbinding, stripped-back records like Lo Fuitse Ayer, Báilame and Muchacha Moderne.
Campanera summons Parisian House producers Faul & Wad and Spanish songstress Diana Navarro to craft a seductive club room serenade. Tense melodic beats pulsate around the body whilst reverberated synths swell and penetrate the mind.
As the tracklist drifts into the familiar percussive spell of Rintintin, memories of my first MESTIZA ritual at Hï Ibiza last summer come rushing back.
The duo’s grand ceremonial entrance was theatrical and immaculate, utterly over-the-top and an entirely deliberate artistic decision. In that moment, they owned the room - and rightly so.
It was perhaps a testament to the well-observed truth that women often have to shout louder in this industry to be heard and amplify to be seen.
Therefore, why not do it in the most fabulously, unapologetically flamboyant way possible?
MESTIZA return to their Theatre throne at Hï Ibiza
It’s this exact energy you’ll encounter MESTIZA at the helm across all 19 Sundays at Hï Ibiza, starting from 31 May. And Ibiza is only half the story.
April sees them become the only Spanish female artists to perform at Coachella, before the island calls them home for the season. With a snap of their fingers, the dual alliance get ready to make history at DJ Mag's reigning world's number one club.
There, Afro beats, flamenco fire and feminine forces are the only sermons you need.
Highlights: Salam, Que Calor, Que Calor, Muchacha Moderna, Enamorá
Spanish Chica is out today, Friday 10 April, and is available to stream and purchase on all reputable platforms.
MESTIZA take over The Theatre at Hï Ibiza every Sunday from 31 May to 4 October, aided and abetted by fellow feminine tour de force Indira Paganotto in the Club Room.
Tickets are on sale below or via our party calendar.
