Aguacero

"Miami producer Nick León’s latest offering, Aguacero, is a percussive reflection on a city in flux. Blending organic sounds with the digital tools of electronic music, the 7-track EP encapsulates the growing anxiety in a city threatened by the very things that help make it beautiful — the ocean, the heat, and the cranes in the sky. The project’s title track is as haunting as it is hypnotic and its winding immersion into the tropics invites you to dance under the moonlight, even as danger abounds. “Pelican Dub,” featuring Uruguayan artist Lila Tirando a Violeta, is a seductive spiral into the digital abyss; seabirds chirp away in the distance as reverb-heavy vocals are chopped and layered under pulsating rhythms apt for an after-hours drive down Biscayne Boulevard. On “Tormenta,” Nick León molds a distinct soundscape that synthesizes the serene sounds of the Americas with a healthy dose of industrial aggression. South Florida, by virtue of its geography, its history and its migrant population, has birthed some of the world’s most dynamic musicians and movements. If artists from Miami’s past have helped teach the world to dance to thumping bass until the early morning, Nick León’s latest project invites the world to dance through the impending storm of uncertainty ushered in by climate change. There is a slick defiance in Aguacero’s composition, a nod to the sense of nihilism we all feel as the world around us feels increasingly treacherous." - Jorge Courtade