Toxically Alluring Pop

CHILE | DREAM POP

When a band names themselves after something deadly, that often translates over to their music and Amanitas is no exception. However, their poison is gentle and slow acting, pulling you in seductively, little by little.

Merriam-Webster dictionary defines Amanita as the following:
Amanita – am·a·ni·ta ˌa-mə-ˈnī-tə, -ˈnē-

noun | any of a genus (Amanita) of white-spored basidiomycetous fungi that typically have a volva and an annulus about the stipe and include some deadly poisonous forms

Sure, there are all-girl bands out there, yes, but this one has an uncanny allure to it. With a little Ana Tijoux-esque rap thrown in sporadically by their scratcher Lorena Guerra (Lou), most of the songs are led by the beautiful, clear voice of Natalia Pérez (Natti), a drummer known for her work with Javiera Mena − another incredible Chilean artist. It isn’t often that one stumbles across a drummer on lead vocals anymore, let alone a female one, so that is a very unique part of what makes the Amanitas sound. But it is not the only stand out thing about them due to the space-like synths, beautiful harmonies and otherworldly layers of music, stacked ever so gorgeously.

And if you wonder what the substance of their lyrics is, just take a look at the following:

“Your voice ran away
A live melody
Nothing is strange in sailing
And so it came
Your swirling sound
I never want you to go” (Tu Sonido/Your Sound)

and

“Loneliness, I felt like an elusive and gray manatee,
of eternal anguish.” (Masacre/Slaughter)

As you can easily tell by the lyrics above, they are by no means a band lacking depth, often poetic in their sensual rapture. Formed in 2014, through what they call “improvisation, complicity and friendship”, the five members came together to create a unique, dreamy sound and released their first single Aventurar that same year.  It is still their most listened to song on Spotify to date at close to 50K listens and most viewed YouTube video to date at 138K views. It starts out with a turntable scratch and a “Da doo da di di, da di da da da” line before a drum fill gets it off it’s feet. Though it begins relatively chill for the verse, the chorus is upbeat and joyous sounding, with awesome harmonies, drum fills and nice guitar and bass parts. A live version of Aventurar is below which really shows off their stunning musicianship. Suffice it to say, I was drooling over the drumming by Natti at the tail end of the song. It is totally worth the 8 minutes, people.

They launched their first EP in 2015 titled Anónima (Anonymous), which featured 5 songs including Aventurar. Their first overseas tour took place in China within a few months of that release and was quite the memorable experience for the group. [1]  Next up was a single in 2016 named Me Desvelo (I Stayed Up), a sensual song about the longing of the body for explosive love, with an almost sinister guitar riff accompanying the song. Which brings us to 2017, with their latest single Tu Sonido (Your Sound). Following in the lyrical footsteps of Me Desvelo, the newest track Tu Sonido sounds more airy, lighter and overall more fluid than it’s predecessor.

Their debut full-length album Amor Celeste Imperial (Imperial Celestial Love) is slated to be released November 6, so the countdown is on! Once the album drops, we may just have to feature that in one of our monthly giveaways, so stay tuned! And my fingers are crossed that they will tour North America after their release, but only time will tell.

Dream pop + all-girl band = ethereally beautiful, trippy music

Members:

Natti: Lead vocals and drums
Lou: Turntable and vocals/rap
Manu: Bass
Paula: Keyboards/Synth & background vocals
Jose: Guitar & background vocals

References
[1] Amanitas Website

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Listen To
Me Desvelo
Tu Sonido
Aventurar

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