by Carolina Simionato (@smntcarolina)
Is anyone calling it “The Facto Trilogy” (pun intended) yet? If not, let me be the first. Now, unless there’s more to come, Lorelle Meets The Obsolete’s 01052019 en vivo con Martín Delgado settles the triad. Recorded on May 1st, 2019 as a radio session for Aire Libre 105.3 FM in Mexico City, all but one of the tracks (Chamber’s “What's Holding You”) are from their fifth album, 2019’s De Facto. To make it three, their previous EP, Re-Facto, released in 2020, consists of two De Facto remixes and two other tracks that would fit right into it.
01052019 is unceasingly intense. A description that already fit the duo well, it does even more in this performance, with Lorena Quintanilla and Alberto González joined by Fernando Nuti (New Candys), Andrea Davì (Mamuthones) and José Orozco (Camedor) — who were special guests on both De Facto and Re-Facto. Here it sounds like they’ve been playing together non-stop in some other dimension, to which we’re graciously allowed to listen from time to time.
Quintanilla’s (the Lorelle in Lorelle Meets The Obsolete) voice proves itself again and again as a powerful instrument, regardless of the amount of effects involved. Delayed, it harmonizes with itself in a way that could be described at length; for brevity’s sake, “magic” summarizes it. When clearer, and perhaps this is my Latin American bias here, there is newfound allurement every time Quintanilla sings in Spanish, providing not only welcomed linguistic diversity but also a kind of sincerity and connection one can look for and sometimes find in second and third and fourth languages, but which is much more accessible and true in one’s mother tongue — the one which usually starts us on our journey into beings who speak of what goes on in and around us.
Live, Lorelle Meets The Obsolete carries on genre-bending, droning and psyching away, often offering the kind of spiritual experience I suppose is felt in temples, or, in my case, concert venues — seeing them live remains in my mental post-pandemic to-do list. It is especially felt when the hectic “Líneas en Hojas” breaks into dreamy harmony, or when “Acción — Vaciar” is led by a guitar riff and backed by soft melody until the dreamy progression of it strikes again, Quintanilla's voice as a caress. “Resistir — El Derrumbe — La Maga” is the perfectly sewn medley conclusion — a held guitar note, the needle.
De Facto is vigorously tight, noisy, melodic, dreamy, and 01052019 en vivo con Martín Delgado only reinforces why, both when it’s faithful to the original and when it strays. It continually nods to the original work while moving beyond it, filled with special ambiance.
Now for some bad news. In their own words, the LP “won't be sold digitally and it won't be available on any streaming platform,” instead being “a limited edition and one-time pressing of 300 copies, released under our own label Registros El Derrumbe.” Take this as your call to ear-related adventure, to go be one of those blessed three hundred souls.