Review: Echo Eléctrico by Angélica Garcia
By Carly Tagen-Dye
Hello, World!
As she’s made clear in the single from her 2020 album Cha Cha Palace, nothing is going to hinder Angélica Garcia. The Los Angeles-bred, Virginia-based performer is unafraid to unleash her best vocal and songwriting abilities, as seen through releases like the aforementioned Palace and her 2016 debut record Medicine for Birds. Garcia’s music has also been an outlet to explore and celebrate her self-described dual identity as an American with Mexican and Salvadoran roots.
Her latest EP Echo Eléctrico, which arrived via Spacebomb Records on October 15, might be her most powerful collection yet. Short but sweet, these five songs lead listeners through a subtle, sonic history lesson, starting with the sounds of traditional Mexican rancheras and ending with new, electronic interpretations for the present day.
Garcia’s work is rooted in her roots, as well as the music that made up her childhood in a Latine and immigrant community. Echo Eléctrico is grounded in this history, but renders the classic folk songs she grew up with into something completely her own. Garcia has stated that her emotive and strong vibrato are key to this record, the power behind the original songs more important than the songs themselves.
“These [original] writers inspired me to interpret and storytell with my whole body,” Garcia notes in a Grimy Goods article. “I also love thinking about how long ago these songs were written—how time couldn’t stop their truths from echoing in the present day.”
Opening track “Malagueña” kicks off this quintet of covers, background vocals repeating “que bonito” over and over until it transforms into the backbone of the song itself. Garcia’s voice swells into an emotional wail on “Macorina,” accompanied by a harmonizing chorus, and her acapella abilities on “Llorona” are nearly as haunting as the Latin American ghost story itself. The monk-like humming in “Cama De Piedra” is holy, creating a transcendental experience so unlike the Cuco Sánchez original tune. Echo Eléctrico ends with the dreamlike “Paloma Negra,” a single piano key accompanying Garcia as she transforms the classic ranchera by Tomás Méndez in a breathtaking finish.
Listening to the EP’s final notes is a reminder of everything Garcia is capable of. She is a magician with her music, her lyrics and messages rendered all the more powerful by her delivery. Most impressive, however, is Garcia’s ability to balance the past and the present. While the singer stays close to her home and heritage with this record, she’s created a new frontier for herself too. Echo Eléctrico reminds us that Angélica Garcia knows exactly where she is headed on this reinvented road.