As a reincarnated remission of Caden Cotard, protagonist of “Synecdoche, New York” by Charlie Kaufman, the Valencian artist Raúl Martí feels the fervent drive to pour into art the fears, traumas and discomforts of a lifetime. With less hypochondria than Philip Seymour Hoffman’s character but as crude as anyone else, the alter ego of burn performs a somersault on his debut LP, “We will avoid all evil” (Raso Estudio, 23), and envelops us in an introspective halo of uncomfortable elegies thrown at our faces, where despite the cryptic optics used by the person in charge, we can intuit an irrefutable pain that seeps into our bones, takes our breath away and makes us away from the present
The intra-stories of his songs are his alone, but the feelings that ooze from them are as much ours as if they were their own. Intrepid pieces of truth that reach the depths of our psyche, where the voice, in all its forms, colors and sparkles, is the absolute protagonist. With less pop and more experiment than in his previous contributions, this young Valencian puts on his particular miter to evangelize the present of national art-pop and thereby lavish the miraculous rebirth of what should be the new alternative songwriter in our country. at the stroke of honesty, fusion and risk.
Raúl’s unique homily begins with his voice treated to a hyperpopper and high-pitched autotune in which the first vestiges of that religious imagery of his begin to gradually gain prominence (“Let’s avoid all night”recite lofty chants at the end of “Halo Dorado”, referring directly and in Latin to the title of the album). Shortly after the sampled voice of Pablo Neruda in “Desperate Song” comes into action and completes that constant feeling of witnessing an eminent and devoted discourse, whose roots will break into a thousand pieces when it comes into contact with the most deconstructed avant-garde signed in purely electronic pieces such as “Tanatos”. From there, burn he will alternate intimate self-portraits where the multiple and multifaceted edges of his complex and wounded personality will be reflected (“Marti R”) as well as grandiose passages full of exuberant and overflowing precious and careful details (“Atlas”).
Although the bulk of “We will avoid all evil” bear the full mark of Raúl, as it is felt in that liberating stain that tarnishes the entire album, its author also decides to rely on external names to infuse the album with a particular tone, going off on more accessible tangents and with aromas of mass pop . After his time on the last album by Tórtel, “Soft Skull” (Intromusic, 22), burn seems to feel comfortable mixing his talent with that of his compatriot, Jorge Pérez, who is also producing “Fog”, a stripped-down, neoclassical ode with eerie touches of ominous intimacy (“It was sad that in the end I needed to hug you, because I didn’t know who you were or if I loved you”). Another regular for Martí and a success in the final amount of his album is the incorporation of Abel Hernández (El Hijo) for the production of “Losing Loves”, a devastating reflection on the ephemeral side of passion that evolves between dark indietronic beats.
With everything, burn It is postulated as another brilliant national proposal that seeks to highlight certain perennial values of our tradition, showing us that the answers to those great questions that continue to plague us today can also be found in roots.