And at long, long last, Kyoto’s Hotel Mexico get some foreign love. The group have a new single coming out on Double Denim Records…who also put out Jesse Ruins’ first Western release…called “A Space In The Loveless Field.” Considering that Hotel Mexico have been catching the eyes of various overseas blogs…Gorilla Vs. Bear, Pitchfork, Altered Zones (R.I.P.)…it’s about time they get a deal like this. Glasses up.
Yet what makes this extra special is that “A Space In The Loveless Field” stands as one of the band’s best songs to date. Double Denim themselves write that this track “recalls the glow of Ariel Pink at his poppiest.” I mean, I’m not gonna poke their PR department in the ribs here, but Hotel Mexico already did that last year with “Dear Les Friends,” which drew a lot of inspiration from Pink’s Before Today (his poppiest). Pink has never sounded as rich as Hotel Mexico do on “A Space.” The group rarely come across this clear, the guitars and drums free of the swirly feedback of earlier songs. Only the main vocals remain a bit obscured, but even at their most nasally, Hotel Mexico add a pretty clean line of harmonizing vocals behind it, a trick that reminds me of the powerful build of breakthrough single “It’s Twinkle.” What makes “A Space” the best they’ve done since “Twinkle” is what Hotel Mexico wring out of the instruments. Whereas some of their songs can dissolve into a sonic cloud akin to staring at a ceiling fan for too long, “A Space” lets the instruments…especially the minor-key guitar on the back half…stick out. Like “Twinkle,” “A Space” engages directly. Double Denim have themselves a gem. Listen below.
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