Al Pagoda: “Lucky Veil”
Al Pagoda’s exceptional first mini album “Lucky Veil” on Bigamo
is a record of exquisite beauty with a cinematic feel.
If you’re looking for a record to get lost in, look no further than Al Pagoda’s exceptional first mini album “Lucky Veil”, which was recently released via the eclectic record label Bigamo, run by Berlin-based producer Frank Wiedemann, co-founder and owner of Innervisions, half of Âme, Howling, and Schwarzmann. A record of exquisite beauty with a wide cinematic feel to it, “Lucky Veil” is all you need in these weird and uncertain times. The Berlin-based Spanish composer and producer delivers seven songs built out of layering luminous synth melodies that sounds like a childhood memory that’s long been dormant.
Originally from Valencia, Spain, Al Pagoda settled in Berlin in 2015, where he started working as a composer for movie soundtracks. During these years he experimented with new sounds and recording techniques. In 2018 a colleague of his, who had witnessed some of his free-form experimentation sessions, asked him to play at Loophole, a small club in Neukölln, Berlin. Al Pagoda accepted and came up with a few songs for the show. After this, the album would crystallise in no time.
Al Pagoda’s cinematic approach can be felt throughout his music; his songs unfold like stories that take us to the crux of an inescapable revelation. Built from short snippets recorded in his phone over the years, “Lucky Veil” was put together during a winter in Berlin, in a room with no windows. The album was mixed by acclaimed French producer, best known for his work with Animal Collective, Dirty Projectors and Deerhunter, in his new studio in Joshua Tree, California.
From the opener “Black”, the first song written for the record as a homage to ’70s psychedelic band Black Brothers, to the synth-laced soundscapes of “Still”, and from the melody-driven “Vagrant”, drenched in hazy melancholia, to the beautiful ambiance of “Steel Outro” that captures the felling of travelling in the subway, “Lucky Veil” is a sublime collection of cinematic textures, ethereal atmospheres, subtle vocal lines and emotive downtempo electronica. Stream the whole thing below.
The mini album “Lucky Veil” is out now via Bigamo. Get it here.
