Malena – Fried Samba
Fried Samba represents the pinnacle of a long road of releases for Malena. Started in 2001, the Manchester-based outfit, featuring the Southpaw Production team of Dan Broad and Chip Wickham and singer-songwriter Susana Montero, has grown from the world of funky Latin house into the darker waters of breaks and beats, still retaining a few hard edges with the production, but with more depth, twists and turns. Think Salsoul mixed with a Brazilian cool and a dark slice of Serge Gainsbourg.
More Afro is a hard-hitting funky bass driven latin groove with firing horns and flute. It features Grupo X boss Jonny Enright who packs the track with some heavy New York trombone mambos.
Although best known for her souring latin style – as in No Llores Mas – Susana Montero shines best on the delicate and classic sounding tracks such as Querria Mentir and Que Dificil Es. Real songs with a strong dark soundtrack vibe and lots of real strings. More Axelrod or Gainsberg than MAW on these cuts. Classic sounding, but still retaining a few hard edges with the production, more depth, twists and turns.
Fried Samba is a sophisticated mixture of hard-hitting Barrio Soul, deep vocal harmonies, dark soundtracks and Brazil-Electro!