Siku

Born in France to Ecuadorian parents, Nicola Cruz is one of a number of producers of recent years who have emerged from the more tech-heavy, esoteric side of the electronic music spectrum to embrace a more roots-driven sound. Where many make a spectacularly appropriative mess of things however, Cruz takes care with his heritage, and isn't afraid to dial back on heavy synths to let the subtleties of live instrumentation bloom.

His 2015 debut Prender el Alma pushed what he termed ‘Andes-step’ – a style that married digital sensibilities with the colours and textures of Andean folk. Siku picks it up where he left it, advancing into ever more organic spaces. Flirting with global sounds, ‘Esu Enia’ adds balafon to an already intricate percussion line while ‘Siete’ and ‘Obsidiana’ make use of Indian tones. But the album's best moments are those that traverse Latin American styles. The opening track ‘Arka’ is compulsive and transcendental, driven by a pounding beat and the fanatic hollow breaths of the siku – the Andean panpipe that reappears to sprinkle Incan sorcery throughout the record. Lighter moments come in ‘Hacia Delante’, a simple yet bouncy eight-track cumbia, while ‘Criançada’ takes on a chilled samba tone, with Castello Branco's soft Portuguese falsetto adding sweetness to a largely stompy album.