At this point, all of the projects Sergio Chotsourian has undertaken since the dissolution of Los Natas have been in conversation one way or the other, so maybe it’s not such a surprise that the latest single from the trio Soldati — in which he plays guitar and sings — also served as the title-track for the last album put out under Chotsourian‘s solo incarnation and nom de guerre, Sergio Ch., Aurora (review here). Released in 2017, that full-length was in no small part defined by its two-part titular cut, which blended experimentalist drone and folk impulses in a way that is increasingly becoming Chotsourian‘s hallmark. As Soldati bring in drummer Alfredo Felitte from Chotsourian‘s other trio — the somewhat MIA Ararat, in which he plays bass and sings — to replace original drummer Ranz and move inextricably toward their first long-player, “Aurora” is a glimpse of things to come.

And a striking one at that. True to the sense of lumber from the Sergio Ch. version, it’s the most Ararat-sounding Soldati piece to-date, calling to mind some of that band’s extended low-end rumblers and general spaciousness. Again, it all bleeds into each other, but it’s a marked turn anyway, as Soldati‘s 2017 self-titled EP (discussed here) was comprised of more straightforward material, and even the subsequent singles that have made their way out, “El Nuda en la Soga” (discussed here) and last year’s “El Latigo y las Riendas” (discussed here), have come nowhere near the droning aspects of “Aurora”‘s 13-minute pulse.

So is it indicative of where Solati‘s currently-in-progress album might eventually end up? Probably. Also probably not. I think laying one expectation on any Chotsourian-involved offering is doing it wrong. If he feels like playing a certain song with a certain band, he’s going to. If he feels like focusing on two different records at once — recall he also has a new Sergio Ch. album in the making, as recently noted — he’s going to. And in the hands of Soldati, as recorded by the lineup of Chotsourian, Ranz and bassist Lukas Hospital, “Aurora” takes on a suitably vibrant and consuming life of its own.

You can see the video below as directed by Juan Cruz Tommasi. I’ll hope to have more to come on Soldati‘s debut LP as we get closer to the release.

Please enjoy:

Soldati, “Aurora” official video premiere

VIDEO OFICIAL DEL SINGLE DE SOLDATI – “AURORA”
PRODUCIDO POR PATRICIO CLAPYPOLE
VIDEO REALIZADO POR JUAN CRUZ TOMMASI

SOUTH AMERICAN SLUDGE RECORDS

SERGIO CH. – Guitar & Vocals
LUKAS HOSPITAL – Bass
ALFREDO FELITTE – Drums

Soldati on Thee Facebooks

Soldati on Bandcamp

South American Sludge Records on Thee Facebooks

Tags: Argentina, Buenos Aires, Soldati, South American Sludge Records

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 6th, 2019 at 10:11 am and is filed under Bootleg Theater. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.