Pan Caliente: Balún

Today we bring you another gem from the culturally rich island of Puerto Rico.

Balún first blipped on my radar back in 2010, with their captivating, lullaby-esque single, “Camila.” It combined the right amount of lo-fi electronica with subtle dreampop and rampant shoegaze. I was hooked.

This summer, they will release their long anticipated sophomore album Prisma Tropical; andfrom what I’ve heard so far, the 7 year wait was worth it.

Prisma Tropical is an expansion on the band’s signature, indie-tropical sound that they’ve dubbed as, “dreambow.” It is a sonic deviation or rather aberration from the Caribbean genre known as “Dembow.” Think of Dembow as Reggaeton’s more percussion driven cousin. Balún’s take explores darker sonic spaces with lyrics that aspire to be trans-dimensional and include percussion-playing robots. Yeah!

Their second single, Teletransporte (produced by Lawson White – My Brightest Diamond, Jamie XX) will tell you all you need to know about their interesting sound.