The Panorama Lighthouse is a section that is responsible for highlighting the most important releases in Ibero-America and is published simultaneously in all the media that make up the alliance, thus multiplying its reach and visibility. Every delivery updates us on the struggles in each of our countries, currently going through the reality of COVID-19, and on the news of their musical ecosystems. As we always say, there is much to discover out there. If you want to know what the region sounds like today, this is the place and the time.

Lighthouse is composed of IndieToday (Argentina), sounds from here (Bolivia), Scream&Yell (Brazil), shock (Colombia), Magazine AM:PM (Cuba),  POTQ (Chili), Sound World and Construction Area (Spain), Indie Rocks! (Mexico), Rock Achorao' (Peru) and Piiila (Uruguay). It also works to create original and innovative content, as well as various activities that serve to break down borders and build bridges between the different countries of Ibero-America.

Uruguay

By Kristel Latecki / PiiiLA

March began with a full cultural agenda, not only of Uruguayan artists but also of international musicians who have been confirming their participation since February. shows in the country. El Mató a un Policía Motorizado, who together with Niña Lobo gave an excellent performance. show at a packed Teatro de Verano; Spanish rapper Rels B was also there and sold out. But the event of the month may have been that of Florencia Núñez at the Teatro Solís, a mythical stage that sold out and where she offered a consecrating show for her career as an independent musician. 

And in terms of launches, the list is also very busy.

Ink and Time is the name of Jorge Drexler's next album, and prior to its release on April 22nd, he offers us a new single: White Belt. Marked by the pandemic and confinement, this is a theme that reflects part of the musician's experience, finding himself composing in this new and strange panorama. "I discovered that you don't write alone. That until you share with another person, you are not able to measure the nature of what you have composed", says Drexler in his statement.

White Belt aims, after a long journey, to return to the starting point. And he is inspired by a story he was told about a martial arts school: "the apprentice starts learning everything with the basic belt, the white belt. After years of practice and study, he reaches technical mastery and receives the black belt. However, once he has reached the highest grade, he receives the white belt again. We have to unlearn all our baggage to reach excellence".

The video that accompanies this single was directed by Joana Colomar and continues the story that they left behind in the visual of Touch you through a challenging choreography that rewinds the dancer until he finds the person he was looking for.

With his debut album, Mansalva presents something they define as a snapshot of a moment. Because for the quartet, when it comes to playing, their compositions evolve, move and change guided by emotions. This portrait is one of raw sensibilities, of reflections reached after looking inward, of heartbreaking cries, which are and will be echoed in feminist struggles. It is a questioning album, one of those that reveals part of the feelings of its composers and, in the process, moves the listener.

The singer and pianist Lali Gaspari delivered her second album, New Intentions. The follower of Gray (2018) makes the difference from the cover: although we see her diffused behind a wet glass, the composer appears in front and in full color. So are her songs. If ballads starred in her debut, here she is polenteado by a more diverse instrumentation and lively rhythms, gaining in sound richness. Never losing its introspective value, she even incorporates electronic elements, as in the outstanding At a Glance.

Floating Body is the first single by Desire Paththe next album of Lilac Tossing Violet which will be released by Mexican label NAAFI. In collaboration with the French-Ecuadorian DJ and producer Nicola Cruz, this track rapidly mutates from an ambient atmosphere to a dembow fractured, the only permanent thing is digitality and rhythm. Like his last work limerence (2020), Desire Path promises to be one of the releases of the year.

Eros White is also previewing what will be his next album and he does it with Volumea collaboration with La Propia which invites to get rid of the problems and leave them on the disco floor. La Propia, for her part, is the one who gives voice to the character while singing in Spanish and French. But far from being a luminous track, it is underpinned by a darkness that echoes in its outro very much inspired by Kanye West's My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy.

Four years after their last album, La Vela Puerca is back with a new album. single in collaboration with rapper Archer. Danceable and pogueable, La Pastilla has all the ingredients that make La Vela's songs particularly their own, with the winds adding color over the firm rock base, and the keyboard giving the right notes. According to the band, their lyrics "question the posture, the ego and the superficiality of the times we live in, all said within the framework of irony". La Vela has just performed a massive show sold out at the Estadio Centenario, and will release their new album in May of this year.

After 17 years leading BoomerangGonzalo Zipitría created CELP, a new solo project that sounds for the first time in As in the Movies. It is a simple groovero with melancholic tints given by the keys, which continues the pop line of his previous band, even working with Gustavo Iglesias (sound engineer and producer of Babasónicos who produced his last two albums). In his lyrics he seems to reflect part of what we have lived in these two years of pandemic, with the strangeness, the fake news and the memory of better times.

From a pop over a trap base, Mica Sapin created her second single produced by Alemany. Edited by Faunas, an independent label led by women, What Remains of Me The album is burdened with heavy pains and anxieties, which entangle and trap in a labyrinth with no apparent way out. The video directed by Guillermo Trochón has an excellent and poetic choreography that echoes the lyrics. 

The lofi hip hop radio have been a huge genre on YouTube for several years now (to the point that Disney has just jumped on the trend.), and from here, the duo Los Bosques proposes a new track that fits perfectly in this mood. Arrabal Wind is the first single of his next album, Monte Nativoand was made in collaboration with the Dutch artist Mindr. The Uruguayan touch is given by bandoneons and tango guitars, in addition to the inescapable sound of the river.

The new Hankelian singer and songwriter released her third album this month. single): So Blue:(. Follower of Voice Note released in December in collaboration with Lucas Cary, this new track also produced by the musician, continues with the subtle beauty of an atmospheric dreams pop and evokes a rainy afternoon where loneliness seems to hit harder. We will have to follow her to find out what else she has in store for this year. 

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