Ahead of their first UK tour-dates kicking off this month, Mexican five-piece Sei Still are today announcing their second album ‘El Refugio’ and sharing the first single and video, ‘Extrarradio’. Due out November 26th on Fuzz Club Records, the new album – which arrives following their self-titled debut LP released in April 2020 and already on its second vinyl pressing after selling out extremely quick first time around – marks a number of changes for the band. Not only have they upped sticks and moved from Mexico City to Berlin, but their sound has undergone a process of evolution too.
Where the debut LP was an exercise in mesmerising Krautrock channeling the likes of Neu! and Can, ‘El Refugio’ keeps hold of that motorik pulse but trades the debut’s more expansive and hypnotic tendencies for a collection of dark, wiry post-punk vignettes.
Talking about the newly announced ‘El Refugio’ LP, the band said: “The biggest influence on this record was the fact that our personal lives had a radical change and we felt the need to do something different, to dig deeper into the possibilities of what the band was about. We never wanted to make the same record twice.” The move from Mexico to Germany was enough of an upheaval in and of itself, but considering they did so mere weeks before entering lockdown gives one possible explanation as to why the new material feels more emotive and visceral than before.
Expressionist rather than psychedelic in intent, they say that ‘El Refugio’ “alludes to childhood, dreams, desire, loneliness, paranoia and hope. A longing for a different reality that breaks the monotony of daily life. It’s more about sensations than something you can describe in words. I think what makes music great is that it has to be experienced so we try to part from a specific mood or emotion, which is something very abstract that people can interpret in their own way.”
Sei Still is composed of Sebastián Rojas (Organ / Synths), Mateo Sánchez Galán (Guitar), Jerónimo Martín (Drums / Percussion) and Lucas Martín (Vocals / Guitar). The band was born when they decided to take a random trip to some desolate woodlands outside of Mexico City to work on a couple of songs that would end up leading them to start a fully-fledged band. With just a couple of singles behind them (2017’s ‘Oto’ and 2019’s ‘Tácticas de Guerilla Urbana’), they soon picked up a fast-growing reputation in Mexico – sharing the stage with the likes of Stereolab, Kikagaku Moyo, Institute & Lorelle Meets The Obsolete – before signing to the London-based label Fuzz Club Records for their 2020 self-titled debut album, which quickly solidified a new European fan-base for the band.
Now based in Berlin, the forthcoming ‘El Refugio’ LP is undoubtedly set to expand on that; preceded as it is by UK tour-dates, headline dates in Berlin and shared bills with the likes of Faust, Beak, The KVB, A Place To Bury Strangers and label-mates The Underground Youth.
UPCOMING SHOWS
28/09 – Brest (FR) – Cabaret Vauban
29/09 – Paris (FR) – Supersonic (FR)
30/09 – Brighton (UK) – Exchange
01/10 – London (UK) – The Victoria
02/10 – Chelmsford (UK) – Hot Box
03/10 – Manchester (UK) – The Peer Hat
04/10 – Glasgow (UK) – The 13th Note
05/10 – Leeds (UK) – Magbate Beach
06/10 – Birmingham (UK) – Nortons Digbeth
07/10 – Penryn (UK) – The Fish Factory
08/10 – Bristol (UK) – Exchange
09/10 – Hastings (UK) – The Piper
19-20/11 – Berlin (DE) – Synästhesie Festival
KRAYKULLA-WEBZINE 