Carolina Faruolo (ex-Los Bitchos) and Danny Lee Blackwell (Night Beats) had been friends and
mutual admirers of each other’s musical projects for years, though with Faruolo residing in the
UK and Blackwell residing in Texas, their interactions were limited. Yet as was so often the case
for many of us during the shelter-in-place stretches of 2020, geographic proximity wound up
being a non-issue as our socializations became almost exclusively online endeavors. In this era
of isolation and uncertainty, Faruolo and Blackwell invented their own private escape to Latin
rhythms, colorful vistas, and smoky revelries under the project name of Abraxas. Combining
their shared love of Wendy Renee, Los Destellos, doo-wop and R&B, they crafted their debut
album Monte Carlo by bouncing ideas across the Atlantic.
“Planet Abraxas is a world filled with jungles, mist-covered rivers, panthers lurking in the night,
desolate shopping malls, Neolithic citadels and sand-worn walls,” Blackwell says of the muse
behind Monte Carlo. “The nights are usually dense with fog and the air is filled with the sounds
of cicadas and faraway drumming.” This visual manifestation of their sound stands in stark
contrast to the environment in which the songs were written. “I remember the feeling I got the
first time Danny added vocals to one of my tracks,” Faruolo recalls. “I was sitting on my sofa in
rainy Manchester in the middle of winter. I pressed play and the song just made my heart jump.
It instantly felt special and, more importantly, it felt like a perfect portrait of both of us.”
Uruguayan-born Faruolo grew up with the tropical beats of cumbia and the psychedelic flavor
of classic chicha artists, and it became her mission to infuse those sunny influences in her work
as a UK musician. Blackwell’s work under the Night Beats handle involves the fusion of outlaw
soul and R&B with a resourceful DIY spirit. Despite the apparent contrast in their styles, the two
musicians bonded over their reverence for Selena and Sade, exemplars of the humid pulse and
sultry spirit of their respective approaches. As Abraxas, their distinctive musical perspectives
created a sound that encompassed the tropicalia of Os Mutantes, the scrappy songwriting of
Cleaners From Venus, and the trippy production of Lee “Scratch” Perry, though the duo is quick
to assert that they were finding their own distinctive voices rather than adhering to pre-existing
stylistic codes and constraints. And indeed, Monte Carlo feels rooted in tradition but blossoms
into its own unique timbres and vibrations.
Monte Carlo opens with “Sunrise State (of Mind),” where a hypnotic cumbia beat serves as the
bedrock for cosmic guitar leads, hazy choral melodies, and Blackwell’s seductive vocals. From
there, the album continues its steady Latin pulse on “Mañana,” a perfect soundtrack to feverish
nights in dancehalls, sipping on caipirinhas and sharing cigarettes with strangers on the
dancefloor. Across its twelve tracks, Monte Carlo unfurls a myriad of exotic influences, from the
Eastern melodies and guitar trills on “Sultan,” through the dub-inflected stomp and scorching
fuzz of “La Estampida,” and on to the Anatolian psych-funk of album closer “Göbekli Tepe.”
Blackwell recorded his contributions with the assistance of engineer Chris Maciel at his studio
the 22nd Dimension in Pomona, California and Faruolo recorded her parts in Manchester,
England at Brunswick Mill. While Abraxas conceived their material in bedrooms and studios six
timezones apart, the music on Monte Carlo sounds like a live band in the throes of an ecstatic
performance. And Abraxas plans to make the live incarnation of the band a reality when
conditions allow for it. Until then, listeners can bask in the invented world of Abraxas and all its
exotic and enticing splendor across the twelve tracks of Monte Carlo. Suicide Squeeze Records
is proud to present Monte Carlo to the world later in 2022 on digital and vinyl formats.