Mi Latinoamérica Sufre

The eccentric genius of Eblis Álvarez’ Meridian Brothers project is now 12 albums deep. The Colombian magician’s unrivalled capacity for blending the avant-garde with traditional and psychedelic Afro-Latino sounds has positioned him as the godfather of the global ‘tropical’ scene but nobody does it quite as wonky as him. A masterful multi-instrumentalist, Álvarez is known for his intricate and oddly tuned melodic alchemy and for Mi Latinoamérica Sufre, he channels the electric guitar sounds of rumba, highlife and Afrobeat, merging them with cumbia, champeta and soukous into a wild trippy night in front of a picó sound system. It’s a concept album about a character called Junior Maximiliano the Third, who under the influence of soma (psychedelic substances), travels on a journey through hilarious self-pity, flashbacks, confused politics and occasional optimism. The imagined soundtrack goes from irresistible dancefloor shakers to moments of angular strangeness. It is quite brilliant.