- The N.A.A.F.I artist presents a sprawling debut album inspired by the natural beauty and precolonial history of Mexico City's largest park.
- Before 600,000 digital nomads flocked to Mexico City, before the United Mexican States and Latin America, before the Spanish fleet descended, there was Chapultepec. The land, meaning "grasshopper hill" in Nahuatl, was regarded as a sacred site by the Toltecs and later the Aztecs. In the 15th century, Nahuan ruler Nezahualcóyotl engineered an aqueduct to bring freshwater from the springs of the verdant hills to then-capital Tenochtitlán (modern-day Mexico City). Chapultepec would go on to pass through a number of colonial hands, at times serving as a spiritual altar, battleground and royal residence—but always of utmost political, ecological and anthropological importance.
A mid-20th century erection of a museum, gardens, walkways and staircases laid the foundation for Chapultepec to become one of the oldest and most visited urban parks in Latin America. This is the context in which N.A.A.F.I cofounder Lao centers his homage to Mexico City's music scene: a convergence of indigenous and colonial, modern science and ancient wisdom, self-interest and common good. Inspired by the lush soundscape and rich history of its namesake, Lao's debut album uses dembow, jungle, techno and ballroom influences to create a moving ode to the city's past 15 years—pre-and post-N.A.A.F.I.
Opening track "Axolotl" slinks in with a deconstructed dembow rhythm ingrained with the gurgling synths, crunchy kicks and metallic clanks that Lao probed on his sprawling ten-year compilation Clásicos Vol. 1. This cavernous sound flourishes when paired with ricocheting snares and ha! stabs on the ballroom-inspired tracks "Ha Hypno" and "Guasón" ("joker"). "Manantial" ("spring") embraces both the softness and harshness of water, balancing a fluttery, gossamer synth with a commanding kick drum. The most piercing sounds come when Lao references locations in their Nahuatl names, like the title track—which sounds like a chorus of cricket chirps pitched up into a shrill and sharp melody—or "Anahuac" (meaning "land on the edge of the water") and its terse piano stabs and foreboding, squelchy synths.
The tribal prehispánico and guaracha sounds N.A.A.F.I have explored in the past runs through Chapultepec, but there's also a strong presence of meticulous, organic-inspired polyrhythms that simulate the biodiversity of this ecological oasis. Sugary bird chirps are a focal point of the production on "Virreyes" (viceroys), appearing again in low-slung "Lo pregunto" (the question), albeit more eerie this time. An ebullient woodwind and windswept drum pattern on "Corriente de aire" ("air stream") channel the clean air and wide open space of Chapultepec, revered as "the lungs of Mexico City." Back-to-back tracks "En donde estamos" ("where we are") and "Equinoccio" ("equinox") offer a feeling of unabashed hope in the face of a new day's uncertainty, with microtonal pulses that billow into dulcet, warbly choruses.
Much like Chapultepec itself, Lao and N.A.A.F.I have been an indispensable part of developing Mexico City's sounds and artists. The label carves out both physical and virtual spaces that welcome introspection and interconnectedness, in contrast with the hyper-individual, rapid hustle-and-bustle of one of the world's biggest metropolises. Lao particularly has been a strong proponent of looking within Mexico and the wider Global South for the basis of artistic inspiration, rather than the Western world. That sentiment blooms as Lao springboards off indigenous perspectives and legacies in the midst of a rapidly gentrifying Mexico City. Breezing through blissful and discordant sounds, Chapultepec is as much a love letter to Mexico City as it is to those who identify with N.A.A.F.I's refusal to play by the rules of the Anglo-washed market.
Tracklist01. Axolotl
02. Corriente de aire
03. Manantial
04. Alita
05. Umbral
06. Ha hypno
07. Chapultepec
08. Carcamo de dolores
09. Cincalco
10. Areana
11. Virreyes
12. Anahuac
13. Batalla en el cerro
14. Guasón
15. En dónde estamos
16. Equinoccio
17. Sepulcro
18. Lo pregunto
19. Lago menor