Nicola Cruz – Prender el Alma

Over a decade ago, a new digital folkloric sound began to emerge out of South American. Led by Buenos Aires’ based imprint ZZK Records, the sounds infused traditional roots music — cumbia, salsa, son, latin jazz — with prevailing electronic genres like techno, dubstep, house, downtempo, and more. One of the young producers leading the way, Quito-based Nicola Cruz spent his formative years studying percussion at music school, while also diving deep into the hypnotic groove of the techno artform. His 2017 debut album, Prender el Alma, is a new strain of Latin American music that Cruz called ‘Andes Step’. Influenced by new digital technology, blended with local influence, Cruz builds his tracks layer by layer, instrument by instrument, drum by drum, exploring local indigenous and Afro-cosmologies in a modern setting.