S.Lo on August 7th, 2018

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After a momentous comeback with their gorgeous full-length release, “Dale Tiempo,” last autumn (coinciding with the birth of their daughter), Wait. Think. Fast. (Matthew and Jacqueline Santillán Beighley) have without much fanfare unveiled a mysterious, bright, shimmery new track, “Pleno Verano” (‘Midsummer’ in Spanish).

“Pleno Verano” originates with a teasing tribal beat that evolves into a wondrous, almost gothic incantation bargaining with the shadows of a summer night in search of love. “I was reading a book called “Rayuela” by Julio Cortázar,” Santillán Beighley says. “At the start of the novel, the main characters are these bohemians living a very loose and spontaneous life in Paris. I hated them and was intrigued by them at once. Lyrically, it’s inspired by that kind of freedom, and those long and winding summer days where if you give into randomness anything can happen.” 

Santillán Beighley gives shape to Cortázar’s bacchanalian characters among strikes of cathedral bells as she sings, “Sombra (Shadows) / Salgo y busco tu querer (I’m out, looking for your love)/ Y me aguanto tu rareza en las sombras de pleno verano (I’ll endure all your peculiarities in the midsummer shadows).” With the air of old-world mystery — “En lo escuro (In the dark) / Las noches de francés (On those French evenings)” —  the song unfurls into a sonically enthralling space with hypnotic chants surrounding a driving, celebratory dance beat (Richard Gowen of the Growlers on drums, recorded by Jonathan Leahy) amid a wash of guitars, bass and synths. The pulse of life in midsummer ecstasy is captured perfectly, a delight in finding the light of love in the darkness en pleno verano.

||| Stream: “Pleno Verano”

||| Previously: “Endless Serenade,”  “Count No Count,” “Luces del Sur” and “Vuelve al Mar”