Review Summary: Una mezcla explosiva
According to Kali, "it all started with myth not history" a child born of Gitanos (Romani people in Spain) in August of 1920 under the name, Pharaoh Koralle Esperanza del Carmen Pantic. Her parents traveled with her form the south of France to Chile to attempt performing musically. After being left orphaned by their accidental deaths, she was raised by an Aymara chief and his wife. A few years later, together with famed musical composer and director, Sandoje Cariri, the duo gained great fame throughout Latin America but eventually, vanished. Today the spirits of Kali and Sandoje have reappeared in the bodies of French-Chilean actress Celine Reymond and Chilean producer Cristóbal Montes, respectively. If anything can be said about Kali Mutsa, it's that they certainly aren't lacking any imagination.
On Souveance, Kali and Sandoje whisk the listener away on a carnivalesque jaunt, around the equatorial line, mixing sounds and styles in an unhinged semblance of dance music. Their approach is off-kilter to say the least. The sixteen songs on the LP are a diverse and distinct mixture of differing styles all while maintaing an overlying danceable rhythm and why not? As stated by the band, their music is designed to "take you out of your routine". Sandoje blends the exotic, completely differing, styles of electronica, Andean traditional sounds, Bollywood, rap, gypsy folklore with a touch of middle eastern and oriental melodies packaged with Kali's delightful voice altering between Spanish and Romani; and at times the combination is downright mesmerizing. However, perhaps the most glaring complaint of their music, is that sometimes that mixture is too volatile, coming off as aggressive, jarring and unappealing. Indeed, even Kali's voice can be hard to stomach as some of the techniques or processing used on it have a disenchanting affect.
Of course, the view expressed above isn't the norm, as Kali Mutsa's unique take on everything has garnered them praise in Latin America. Several blogs even placing her 2011 EP Ambrolina, on their album of the year lists. With Souveance, Kali and her colleague seem more intent on driving home serious points, the music isn't intended to be a desperate plea to the mainstream. Such bravado, in turn alienates some potential consumers, but if you took a hard look at what Kali Mutsa represents, you would quickly gather that the loss of fair-weather fans couldn't bother the group in the least.
Throughout the album, the songs remain firmly rooted in expressing something more ritualistic, always making sure the ties to ritual and dance are never far behind. The album's most conventionally structured number, lead single "Canción de Amor Colla" starts off gently with a spoken refrain and an escalating drum line. The story of Aymaya lovers living in the Chilean high plateaus, who recently married see love and beauty in everything because that is what love should be, as Kali asserts, therefore the song continues its poetic journey until hitting on a catchy, chorus-like bridge that guides the listener to idyllic planes. It's straightforward tendencies might have some thinking that Kali Mutsa have lost their edge but the preceding song soon puts an end to that thought. Other cuts like "Traga Traga" whose wild, syncopated beat, including tiger roars, is an infectious danceable tune that takes complete advantage of it's Kurdish, middle eastern melodies to transport us to a foreign land. The song beginning with what could be a Romani conversation, soon bursts wide open to full-fledged dance euphoria. Francis Boy, a Kurdish artist and only guest on the album, offers a change of pace in vocal tone as his verse combined with a looped Kali refrain highlight the the notable concoction of the song. Following, are "Edithcita" and "Cumbia de Pichi" whose African influenced samba style drums provide more of the same compelling, irresistible dance numbers that bring out the rhythm in all of us.
Some critics however, feel like the multiple interludes take away from the dynamics of the disc, on the contrary, if anything they help balance the album out. Being short and ideally placed, giving the listener a bit of room to breathe as truthfully, the cuts on the record can be difficult to tolerate back to back. The mostly instrumental interludes act like a bridge uniting numbers but some like "La Tristeza de Plutón" wouldn't seem out of place on any post-rock record with its chilling detachment and soft vibes. The more Andean influenced final interlude and "Tati Bal Bal (Viento Caliente)" offer a relaxing, spiritual experience to end of the album. Kali Mutsa have definitely crafted an album worthy of your attention, even though, some may never understand what exactly their aim is, nevertheless their originality is commendable and highly contagious.
