Toronto-based musician Brandon Valdivia has participated in several experimental groups, from post-rock band
Picastro to avant-jazz collective
the Cosmic Range, in addition to playing on recordings by
U.S. Girls,
Fucked Up,
Jennifer Castle, and many others.
Mas Aya is his solo project, and its name alludes to the Nicaraguan town his grandmother comes from, as well as the Spanish phrase "el más allá," or "the beyond." Since its 2012 debut cassette,
Mas Aya has taken on many forms, from noisy improvisations to optimistic protest songs. Máscaras is the project's first vinyl release, and it's unmistakably the most fully developed and sonically rich
Mas Aya release yet, with much clearer, more spacious production than the previous lo-fi efforts. The album's title refers to the Indigenous ceremonial masks shown on the front cover, and as with his past work, he continues to incorporate traditional instrumentation, particularly tin whistle, bansuri, quena, and other wind instruments, as well as thumb pianos, llamador, and other percussion.
Mas Aya's releases have gradually shifted toward more electronic production, and while 2017's Nikan had sharp, upfront rhythms and more pop-influenced songwriting, the beats on Máscaras are more subtle and slippery, the textures are closer to ambient and new age, and there's more sampled speech than sung vocals. "Momento Presente" opens the album with a cluster of flutes, joined by footwork-ish boom-bip and skittering hi-hats, with lush rays of synth spilling around everything. "Key" is a meditative pool of rippling synth notes which are eventually joined by trickling water and electronic beats that approximate a thick-skinned drumhead being beaten in a resonant space. "18 de Abril" surrounds a skeletal dancehall beat with massed flutes and sampled anguished cries of "mamá, perdóname!," giving the effect of trying to calm someone in a state of panic. "Tiempo Ahora," the record's only lyric-based song, features past collaborator
Lido Pimienta, whose gorgeous voice drizzles like honey over the echoing downtempo beats and ethereal soundscapes colored with shooting star synths and chirping crickets. The album achieves a unique balance of social consciousness and earthly awareness, using technology to shape the sounds and rhythms of nature and humanity. ~ Paul Simpson