VMP Magazine

Divino Niño’s fourth album, Last Spa on Earth, conjures up the thrill of a dreamy, forbidden crush. Making the record was sort of a reciprocal experience for the Chicago band, who were in the midst of chaos and uncertainty. “We were in a Wisconsin cabin in the middle of the pandemic … it was so cold and snowing the whole time,” recalls vocalist/guitarist Camilo Medina. They were “drinking and making music until 4 a.m.” every day, he says, “Then JV started playing some spa-like keyboards … and Guillermo blurted out, ‘The last spa on Earth.’ It felt so apocalyptic what we were experiencing in that cabin, like the last moment.”

Spell 31 was born out of a few primordial spells recast during a music session held by Ibeyi, the French Afro-Cuban duo, 27, comprised of sisters Lisa-Kaindé and Naomi Diaz. Sacred scriptures like The Ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead and The Tibetan Book of the Dead made their way to the twins’ consciousness the same day they began crafting the early songs for their upcoming full-length release, produced by Richard Russell. “I jumped for joy and screamed ‘That is magic!’” Lisa-Kaindé said. “It’s about the connection to that knowledge, to those truths and to that power. Protected by the spells, we were ready to dive into our third album by connecting to that power and channeling that magic.”

What makes a home? In essence, it means different things to different people. For KAINA, it was a place where she lived her earliest identity-forming experiences alongside her nuclear family. Though her immigrant parents held on to dreams of upward mobility for too long, it was just after moving out when she learned to caution against “missing the moment.” 

When Silvana Estrada began to craft the songs for Marchita, her debut full-length out Jan. 21, she had two things in mind: cultivating vocal power and honing vulnerability. Her voice, in fact, is like a quiet storm — she delivers a raw hushed cadence that can turn thunderous in an instant. On the backdrop, the careful arpeggios from her Venezuelan cuatro twinkle with the bucolic radiance of a night sky.