- Few producers do percussion like Dengue Dengue Dengue. The Peruvian duo weave dense webs of interconnected grooves, balancing Afro-Latin rhythms and modern bass music. They don't shy away from using long samples or colorful lead melodies, bold songwriting elements that make their tracks feel like more than just DJ tools. They are in play on Son De Los Diablos ("Sound Of The Devils"), their first EP since the 2016 album, Siete Raíces.
The title track is a great example. Rather than going straight in with a percussive groove, they foment a tense mood with violin strokes resonating in negative space. The shakers and hand drums come in bit by bit, and the bass that kicks in at the one-minute mark is so thick that it's alarming. The melodies are almost always simple three- or four-note lines, but they're layered in a way that makes them work. That's especially clear on "Buscando." The digital marimba is just a little bit dissonant, making for an ambiguous tone somewhere between ominous and celebratory—a line these two are particularly good at towing. There's a yawning, fantasmic vocal clip ("Estoy buscando," or "I'm searching") that injects a bit of sadness, too.
"Flootz" centers on muffled loops of hand claps and chants tied to an unhurried 4/4 beat that will warm up a dance floor. A spacious mid-range makes it fun to DJ with, leaving plenty of room for incoming and outgoing tracks in the mix. "Cobre," with its flute melodies and spacious reverb, contains whispers of classic dubstep tracks like Skream's "Rutten," though the percussion skips instead of stomping. Son De Los Diablos is no real departure from what we heard on Siete Raíces, but as the old saying goes, if it ain't broke don't fix it.
TracklistA1 Son De Los Diablos
A2 Buscando
B1 Flootz
B2 Cobre