What does Humano sound like?

Brazilian downtempo electronica, mixing the organic and the synthetic.

The review of ‘Los Diablos Siguen Ahí’ by Humano

Keeping things down low, Humano’s latest EP is all about a journey underground. Specifically, it tells of Humano’s journey through Cueva de los Tayos (Cave of the Tayos) in Ecuador. The site is home to many legends of underground cities, golden plates, and even alien civilisations. With mysterious, dark, echoing chambers, and aliens in your mind, Humano delivers a groovy and fitting EP.

‘Cueva Escrita’ opens the EP with a tight and dry drum loop and empty space ambience that fades into a clever use of filters and tuned noise. Wooshes of wind and birdsong are used like cymbals, whilst needling guitar-like samples add a voyaging melody of discovery. I love how the chords and melodies interact in a way to provide scale, exploration, and vastness by raising the bass notes up a scale of tension whilst the melody dances away more playfully. It feels bold, brave, and a bit ominous at the same time.

‘La Galeria’ continues a deeper, dubbier groove. Tumbling stumbles of tuned percussion from various glassy and wooden instruments ring out like golden coins. These mingle with electric zips and stylus whips as if we are charting out the geography around us and being led deeper underground. Nods to the indigenous past are given with droney organ hums and vocal samples, too. This leads us to ‘Tayo’, the closing track. The bold reggae beat lets the squishy bassline squirt and parp its way underneath warped vocal snippets and atonal synth elements. The more electronic approach, discarding or masking the organic elements, makes this track feel like a hidden cave party taking place in secrecy. Add in some rainstick and cavernous echoes and you have another chillout banger.

Straddling chillout, downtempo, and dubby, slower trance, Humano continues to carve out his own niche with this moniker that always draws me in on repeated listens. First time around, I enjoyed it. Then, after a few listens, I find it more hypnotic and soothing, like some of the best downtempo/trance crossover music is. This is where Humano’s music lies and if you’ve got the lights down low and the bass turned up, this EP is a truly chilled mood.

Recommended track: Cueva Escrita

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