HELADO TROPICAL

Despite an age gap of a decade, Roberto Carlos Lange, who performs as Helado Negro, and Fabi Reyna, who leads Reyna Tropical, have both long upended expectations of what it means to be a Latin artist working in the United States through exquisite song. Raised in Miami by parents who emigrated from Ecuador, Lange spent years exploring experimental video art and sound design before turning Helado Negro into a syndicate of sophisticated pop tunes framed by supple electronics and tender vocals. Born in Mexico but raised in the Texas border town of McAllen, Reyna subsequently headed to Portland, where she founded the essential music magazine She Shreds as she built Reyna Tropical, a boundless project as likely to put field recordings above abstract textures as to sing about sacred rites above gorgeous techno. When a mutual pal suggested they try to record a song together, the blind musical date turned into a powerful friendship and collaboration, resulting in just two years in an incredible debut they call Helado Tropical.

“One of the best things about meeting Roberto is … it brings out this, like, kid-at-recess side in me,” Reyna told Democracy Now! “Like being a little bunny that was bouncing around everywhere.” Indeed, these nine songs feel like open and spirited exchanges, one half of the project never dominating the space. During opener “Sensación,” they trade vocals, Lange’s gorgeous falsetto taking the space Reyna’s velveteen air leaves above stuttering beats and interlocking keys. The hazy instrumentals “Luna” and “Sol” bookend “Fluye,” where a glowing synthesizer line pushes Reyna’s voice skyward, until it meets Lange’s. They continue these celestial handshakes, avoiding the easy climax for a song that simply seems to hover in endless pop bliss.