MATÍAS AGUAYO - Anenoa

Matías Aguayo has built his career on detours, intuitions and shifts in perspective. A central figure in Latin American electronic music over the past twenty years, first with the collective Closer Musik and then through a lengthy solo career, the Chilean producer has always rejected the conventions of club music, favouring unpredictable paths and cultural cross-contamination. His latest work, "Anenoa", is no exception: a dance record only on the surface, one where electronics serve Latin rhythms and moods, evident from the lively opening of "Sentimientos encontraos" and even more so in the introspective "¿No ves?", enriched by the presence of Chilean star Javiera Mena.

The album is scattered with collaborations. Aguayo brings in figures from the new Latin American scene, such as Barbie Williams, Girl Ultra and Camille Mandoki, alongside artists coming from very different backgrounds. Emblematic in this sense is the presence of French multi-instrumentalist Étienne Jaumet. On "The Beat" his synthesizer breaks free of a purely rhythmic role to venture into near-improvisational territory, unsettling the track's pulse and generating a tension that gradually pulls the composition away from the more predictable coordinates of club music.

While maintaining a strong bond with movement and the body, "Anenoa" consistently steers clear of the shortcuts of contemporary dance music. Tracks like "Avestruz en Veracruz" warp the voice until it becomes a rhythmic, alienating element, suspended between theatre of the absurd and playfulness, while "Asuka, Rock, Roll" takes unexpected turns: its synthetic lines and mechanical pace evoke a certain strand of European avant-garde electronics, but are constantly cut through by details that crack their regularity.

More accessible, at least on the surface, "Cuando ya no estás de moda" instead moves along coordinates closer to modern Latin pop, without ever fully embracing it, thanks to an arrangement that favours nuance and subtraction over the immediacy of the song form. Even when the album allows itself more melodic, accessible openings, as in the sinuous "La heredera", that sense of creative instability that has always defined the Chilean artist remains intact.

Ride the wave of great music

Add OndaRock to your favorite sources on Google Discover. Don't miss our reviews, milestones and latest news straight in your feed.

Follow on Google

17/06/2026