Spain Colored Orange – Sneaky like a Villain [album]

Shout it out Loud Music

From a psychedelic Garden of Eden to romantic summer nights, and from Clint Eastwood westerns to creepy Christmas eves, Spain Colored Orange’s first album Sneaky like a Villain takes you on a colourful journey through imaginary landscapes, consequently giving new life to 1920’s miracle, the radio play.

Led by catchy mid-sixties inspired piano tunes and dreamy trumpet sounds, the album doesn’t contain really meaningful or even clear stories. Instead it relies heavily on free spirited sound collages; hence the link with radio plays, where success and the enjoyment depended on the fantasy of the listener. The band tries their best to make the trip a challenge though, for example in ‘Who Am I?’ where singer Gilbert Alfaro vaguely sings about an unsuccessful relationship, while the music on the other hand reminds more of dancing with your girlfriend in the blossoming Garden of Eden on a hot Saturday night.

Highlight ‘Cheap Thrills' also gives you something to think about. Accompanied by a tune Paul McCartney wished he’d written during the making of Sgt. Pepper, Alfaro sings about love that’s everywhere and he seems to be happier than ever. Until the rhythm suddenly breaks down, the slow sound of trumpet takes over and a bolted organ fills up the room, which makes him sing that "something’s gone completely wrong, and it’s driving me mad". The band is however, also capable of creating romantic but still not completely positive atmospheric songs, as shown in the peaceful ‘Hide’ and the Clint Eastwood western film soundtrack candidate ‘Music Box’.

After the psychedelic and moody, trumpet leading trips of side one, the band decides to use the spirit of musical freedom to the full by exploring other styles, like the Stevie Wonder inspired ‘You Think You Know’. Also worth mentioning is the jazz-turns-into-nightmare song ‘Uh, oh, Trouble’ and probably radio DJs' least favourite Christmas track ever, ‘I Remember it was Christmas Time’, which, due to the organ melody in minor, the dark sounding violins and the impressive choir, sounds so sinister that you would think that this is the one Christmas Tiny Tim couldn’t witness anymore.

Luckily, for all the people with nightmare problems, the album closes with the happy-peppy summer friendly ‘Birds and the Bees’, where you can find a gleam of the many talents haunting the Alfaro family as well, as the singer’s kid Sprout is one of the children responsible for the "get ready for the birds and the bees" chorus at the end.

Despite its diversity in styles Spain Colored Orange never loses itself in forced experimentation; every song just tells a story with music as the narrator and the result is quite extraordinary. Sneaky as a Villain is, in short, a wonderful psychedelic escapism for the mind, as well as a challenge to the fantasy and is definitely worthwhile adding to your collection.