Paris-based Venezuelans, Insólito UniVerso, push on into new territory on their psychedelic folk sound, with their stella new debut single “Ese puerto existe”, backed with an otherworldly and haunting remix from Awkward Corners of “Jota”.

On their debut album, ‘La Candela del Río’, this genre morphing experimental Venezuelan folk group, Insólito Universo, introduced us to a magical Latin American sound of their very own.

The group drawing on inspiration from Brazilian composer and multi-instrumentalist Hermeto Pascoal, through to Tortoise, Stereolab, and electronic music pioneer Delia Derbyshire, all shaped in traditional Venezuelan folk music.

Of “Ese puerto existe”, vocalist, composer and cuatro player, Maria Fernanda, tells us “this song takes us to the coast, on a beach where the star and the grain of sand are tracing the vertical and infinite line of the present. Perhaps it is the mouth of the flame of the river reaching the sea. Perhaps a look of a bird in migration.”

“Ese puerto existe” takes its name from the first collection of poems by the Peruvian poet, Blanca Varela, who wrote, "On this coast I am the one who wakes up / among the foliage with brown wings”.

The song is in the rhythm of the Gaita Tambora, from the Afro-Venezuelan tradition of the southern shores of Lake Maracaibo. With the brand new Awkward Corners remix, Insólito UniVerso’s haunting take on “Jota” is drawn into the otherworld of bubbling synths and rippling percussion that captivated us on his debut album.

Awkward Corners is the artistic pseudonym of musician, producer, DJ, compilation curator, writer, and co-founder of the Paradise Bangkok label and band, Chris Menist.

Insólito UniVerso’s original take on “Jota” is based upon a traditional jota margariteña (a song & ode to love, or fishing, usually accompanied by guitar, Venezuelan cuatro or bandolin), composed by Berta Vargas. The lyrics refer to separation from the homeland, something far too real for many Venezuelans these days. It's a farewell to the scent of a plantain tree; an “adios” echoing in an empty house. And yet, there is joy in being able to sing through this pain, and maintaining a belief in the inner self, which remains unchanged and immutable -MS

“Ese puerto existe” is mixed Malcolm Catto at Quatermass Sound Lab.

Mastered and cut by Frank Merritt at The Carvery, London

House sleeve art & logo by Gaurab Thakali

Listen here