For a long time, Brooklyn’s Helado Negro has given us music that stirs our very being. His creative synth folk sound has captured your mind and turned it inside out. With his new album This Is How You Smile, he takes everything from the world he’s created and gives you so much to hold on to while actually getting you to crack a smile in the process.

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The magic of this album is how it flows, how it wanders and saunters through the music as if the narrative is everyday life. The backing sounds create a universe of their own, the way the album is structured feels more like a day in the life than just music. There’s a lot of depth in these tracks that takes you away from wherever you are, and places you square in the world that the music has created. While “Please Won’t Please” falls under what Helado Negro has done in the past, it’s the stark nature of how the song is orchestrated that will tug at your attention like a child needing a moment.

The whole album plays out like that, tracks like “Fantasma Vaga” feel very here and now while still staying in this space that the music has crafted, while “”Pais Nublado” has all of the folk touches and orchestra strikes that you crave after moments with the album playing. Where “Running” creeps up on you slowly, the chill wave demeanor of the track will win you over within the first five seconds. So much of what you’re hearing is from this very well curated notion of a world that you probably couldn’t access without this album, and its all beauty from beginning to end. The spacey and almost synth wave notes of “November 7,” the coffee house vibes of “Todo lo que me falta,” there’s a lot to take from what’s here, and you should adore experiencing every note of it.

You can stream This Is How You Smile on all streaming sites, you can purchase it in all digital shops including Bandcamp, or you can purchase it physically from RVNG INTL. Helado Negro is on tour March 26 in Dudingen, Switzerland at Cafe Bad Bonn until June 29 in Raleigh, North Carolina at King’s Barcade. A complete listing of his upcoming appearances can be accessed here.

Image Credits: Photo Courtesy of RVNG INTL..