Los Angeles’ pop experimentalist Angélica Garcia today releases her new album and first for Partisan Records, entitled Gemelo and translating to “Twin” in English. The album represents the two selves, the spirit and body, and tackles how they work together and against one another. An inspired convergence of vanguard electronic pop explorations mirroring the depth of its spiritual excavations, Gemelo was produced by Carlos Arévalo (Chicano Batman), and recorded over a month and a half in Virginia. There, Angélica discovered and tapped into a fresh pop auteur perspective, creating music that is searing and borderless, free of cultural confinement and challenging the notion that singing in English is a prerequisite for creating American music.
Prior to today’s full album release, Angélica shared five tracks from Gemelo which were met with widespread critical acclaim. “With a voice that leaps and keens like Kate Bush, with echoes multiplying behind her, [Angélica] Garcia sings about an attraction that surges beyond the physical to the metaphysical…,” writes The New York Times of her song “Juanita.” Elsewhere, Remezcla wrote that Angélica “..harbors the mixed chaos surrounding the discovery and breaking of generational trauma, while her alluring voice gently guides listeners through the ongoing and never-ending process.” Additional praise arrived at Pitchfork, Rolling Stone, Wonderland, and NPR who said she“summons spirits.”
This week in Angélica’s extensive profile at The New York Times — which landed the paper’s Arts Cover earlier in the week and saw Chief Pop Music Critic Jon Pareles say the LP is “full of dualities: angels and demons, grief and healing, dreams and realities, mirror images,” — Angélica details the poetry of singing in Spanish, how she feels the most free singing, and the natural process of working with Arévalo. Read the full feature here.
Angélica’s live performance evolution has significantly altered this year. Performing now with a live drummer, her bold and captivating stage presence consistently leaves an undeniable impression. She started the year with a packed SXSW schedule, including showcases with KUTX, KEXP, Stereogum, and KCRW amongst many others. Currently, Angélica is on tour in the UK where she will also support IDLES before heading to Mexico for their set of shows together. In July, she will play a co-headlining date with La Doña at the Elsewhere Rooftop in Brooklyn, NYC. Later in the fall, she will directly support indie favorite Nilüfer Yanya on tour with stops in Nashville, San Francisco and Los Angeles and play a string of dates with the Black Pumas in Europe.
As her most focused work to date, Gemelo progresses from its delicate, tender entry in Side A, which serves like almost a meditation, to the visceral intensity of Side B, which immerses into the difficult, at times terrifying work of healing. All throughout the album she also challenges the traditional American pop music idioms, opening the floodgates with a refreshingly universal rhythmic set of songs where heritage snaps into focus in both lyric and disparate sound channeling elements of Yves Tumor, Kate Bush, Karen O, Rosalía, Kali Uchis and Xenia Rubinos. She and Arévalo have shaped a self-contained universe with her demos, bonding over everything from Portishead and Radiohead to Timbaland and early Madonna, incorporating front-and-center pop-vocal production and clublike textures and rhythms all throughout.
Raised in El Monte by Mexican and El Salvadoran parents, Garcia has been surrounded by music her entire life – her mother was an artist who had a top 40 Hot 100 hit and her stepfather was in A&R prior to becoming a priest. Already she’s earned praise from the New York Times, Rolling Stone, Vanity Fair`, a debut at NPR’s Tiny Desk, space on Barack Obama’s annual best-of-the-year roundup with her cross-cultural anthem “Jicama” along with syncs at Apple, HBO, tour dates with Mitski, Vagabon and beyond. Now, with growth and exploration like wind behind her, Garcia has arrived at her clearest and most fully-realized vision of self.
ANGÉLICA GARCIA TOUR DATES
June 6 – 8 – Northside Festival – Aarhus, DK
June 10 – The Louisiana – Bristol, UK
June 11 – The Castle – Manchester, UK
June 12 – Lower Third – London, UK
July 5 – Summerfest – Milwaukee, WI
July 9 – Elsewhere Rooftop – Brooklyn, NY – co-headlining with La Doña
July 12 – Castle – Cardiff, UK – supporting IDLES
July 13 – The Piece Hall – Halifax, UK – supporting IDLES
July 20 – Dreamland – Margate, UK – supporting IDLES
July 21 – The Wyldes – Cornwall, UK – supporting IDLES
July 26 – Latitude Festival – Suffolk, UK
August 31 – September 1 – Bumbershoot Festival – Seattle
October 1 – Guanamor Teatro Estudio – Guadalajara, MX – supporting IDLES
October 2 – Showcenter Complex – Monterrey, MX – supporting IDLES
October 4 – Pepsi Center – Mexico City, MX – supporting IDLES
October 6 – Grog Shop – Cleveland, OH – supporting Nilüfer Yanya
October 7 – Metro – Chicago, IL – supporting Nilüfer Yanya
October 9 – Basement East – Nashville, TN – supporting Nilüfer Yanya
October 10 – Cat’s Cradle – Carrboro, NC – supporting Nilüfer Yanya
October 11 – Terminal West – Atlanta, GA – supporting Nilüfer Yanya
October 13 – Bottleneck – Lawrence, KS – supporting Nilüfer Yanya
October 15 – Meow Wolf – Denver, CO – supporting Nilüfer Yanya
October 18 – Hollywood Theatre – Vancouver, BC – supporting Nilüfer Yanya
October 19 – The Crocodile – Seattle, WA – supporting Nilüfer Yanya
October 20 – Wonder Ballroom – Portland, OR – supporting Nilüfer Yanya
October 22 – August Hall – San Francisco, CA – supporting Nilüfer Yanya
October 24 – Fonda – Los Angeles, CA – supporting Nilüfer Yanya
Oct 28 – Academy – Bristol, UK – supporting Black Pumas
Oct 29 – Royal Albert Hall – London, UK – supporting Black Pumas
Oct 31 – Arkea Arena – Bordeaux, France – supporting Black Pumas
Nov 1 – Zenith – Toulouse, France – supporting Black Pumas
Nov 2 – Sant Jordi Club – Barcelona, Spain – supporting Black Pumas
Nov 4 – Fabrique – Milan, Italy – supporting Black Pumas
Nov 6 – O13 – Tilburg, Netherlands – supporting Black Pumas
Nov 8 – KB Hallen – Copenhagen, Denmark – supporting Black Pumas
