Losjes geïnspireerd door Ma Anand Sheela, de persoonlijke assistent van Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh (later gekend als Osho), een controversiële Indische guru die zijn volgers van Indië naar Antelope (Oregon) deed verhuizen, mijmert Vargas: "We can sell anything, even the most preposterous ideas / flimsiest spiritual beliefs, if it looks good on the outside [and] if we speak about it enthusiastically," De wereld door een sceptische bril bekijken is de boodschap. Muzikaal is het opnieuw een smeltkroes van stijlen, waarbij americana en jazz opduiken, maar ik hoor precies ook het ritme van de rumba of chachacha? Natuurlijk is er terug die uiterst unieke, kenmerkende stem van Kate Vargas, eentje die je uit de duizend herkent.
Rumpumpo verscheen op 16 juli via Bandaloop Records.
Luister ook naar Glorieta to the Holy Place Rumpumpo
lees
A reformed wild child, in recent years Kate Vargas has traded the party for meditation, yoga, clean eating and a renewed focus on what she values most—her music. The New Mexico-raised, NYC-based artist is building ever more mindfully on her sound, and the music press is taking notice, Vargas receiving praise from a variety of respected outlets including Billboard, NPR, Noisey, and the Huffington Post, the latter assessing, “There is an unlimited amount of potential in this superstar on the rise.”
Vargas has packed houses from Ireland’s Westport Folk and Bluegrass Festival to The Troubadour in London, The Mansion on O Street in Washington D.C. to New York’s Bowery Electric. Her most recent full-length album, For the Wolfish & Wandering, features her singular folk-style storytelling. The songs are grounded in a darkly melodic, reverb-washed sonic palette of dreampop, dusty folk and junkyard blues, all carried by Vargas’ rough-hewn vocals and guitar playing. In equal measure, she channels a surprising array of artists, from Tom Waits and 16 Horsepower to Lana Del Rey and K. Flay. Now hitting her stride, Vargas’ affecting story songs stir the emotional cauldron, blazing a genre-bending path that is both sonically and lyrically daring.
“With outstanding instrumentation and her extraordinary voice, you’ll want to push open the swinging doors of the next saloon, take a whiskey and just listen to the sounds of this wonderful piece.” – Pretty In Noise
