Review
Genre and Mood
MonteRosso’s Huacachina is electro-pop from Paris with an indie-pop lightness. No review describes the song itself, so its character here comes from the people who released it: Kitsuné, the duo’s label, hears airy vocals over an underground bass, an atmosphere that “makes us float”, in a French wave inspired by Zero 7 and The Cardigans. Dreamy and atmospheric follow from that description; how closely this track matches it is for you to judge.
Song Summary
Huacachina takes its name from a village in south-western Peru, built around a small desert oasis and surrounded by sand dunes. The song runs three and a half minutes and opens Kitsuné Parisien 4, the fourth volume of the label’s Parisien series, released in May 2017. The official release names Thomas Lozano as its composer. A title borrowed from an oasis on the other side of the world, on a record from Paris, is the detail that stands out before the first note.
Musical Breakdown
The Duo
MonteRosso is two musicians: Mathilde, a violinist, singer and songwriter who also records alone as Mat Hilde, and Thomas Lozano, a guitarist and composer. On stage the drummer Bertrand Trebaol joins them. The sources list the players, not the parts they play on this recording, so listen for which of those instruments you can pick out.
The Sound
The label’s description gives two layers to listen for: a light, airy voice on top and a deep bass underneath. Between them sits the space that the comparison with Zero 7, an English duo filed under downtempo and chill-out, suggests.
Concepts in Focus
A bassline is the low line that carries a song’s harmony and much of its movement. In electro-pop it is often the most physical part of a track, felt as much as heard, and it is the first thing Kitsuné names when it describes MonteRosso: an underground bass under airy vocals. Listen to Huacachina from the bottom up and follow that line before the melody.
The other half of the description is ambient texture: sound used as atmosphere, a space around the song rather than a part of its tune. A floating feeling, which is how the label puts it, usually comes from this layer, from sustained sounds, reverb and the room left between the parts. Compare it with Seth XVI – Give It All, another quiet song from the same compilation.
Artistic Context
Kitsuné is a Paris label, and Parisien is the name of its series of compilations; Huacachina was chosen to open the fourth. The duo returned to the series on the 2019 edition with Aimants, the track the label still lists on MonteRosso’s page. The name can mislead: Last.fm files the Paris duo under the same name as an Italian pop singer, Pierpaolo Monterosso, who has used it since 2015.
Impact and Reception
Huacachina has no press of its own; opening a Kitsuné compilation was its way into the world, and it led the duo back to the same series. It is here because it was among the owner’s most played songs of 2022. Put it on, follow the bass, and see whether you float.
