November 28, 2009

By Sandy Gordon

For the lead single from his new album "Colour," Latin Bitman finds a talented co-writer and guest vocalist in fellow Chilean artist Francisca Valenzuela, who moans bleak lyrics that tint the song with an appealing despondency. "I'm hitting bottom," Valenzuela sings to a falling bassline. "Help me find out how to break the mold," she beckons soulfully, while an electric funk guitar and saxophone take agitated stabs back and forth, trying to break through the track's rolling loops. The production mixes buoyancy with heft, as Bitman allows dub upbeats to rebound off a weighted hip-hop backbeat. The song's main riff drops in and out, revealing a playful subtext of timbales and turntable scratches. The lyrics are a call for signs of life in a dreary city, and the music, always in motion, awakens just that.

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