ART & SPENCER is a newly forged collaboration between Juan Martínez Pérez, aka Elson Complex, a fingerstyle acoustic guitarist of Andalusian and Catalonian heritage who loves soundscapes with acres of space – it’s the space between the notes that interest him just as much; in which he’s fusing a new direction with Belgian multi-instrumentalist Marc Vliegen, aka Have A Cigar.
Their reported manifesto: to blend elements of the cinematic with melodic ambience.
They released their first single, “Caravan”, a few days back, and we’ve embedded the video for you below; in a curious act of public engagement, Elson Complex put out a Twitter poll on a trailing excerpt video, asking us out here in fandom to define what genre “Caravan” could possibly be. (The results of the straw poll were ambient: 63.3%, new age: 20%, world music: 10%, which is at least an exercise in genre democracy).
Anyhow, here we present “Caravan”, out now on all digital streaming platforms via Raighes Factory: it is indeed beautifully chilled, hanging on a swaying guitar figure and singing electronic tones that really absolutely gives the ‘new age’ a very firm brush-off. It has light and shadow, isn’t trying to entice you into buying a dragon clutching an orb or some nag champa. It’s intelligent, partially acoustic blues-folk that draws, seemingly, on the great American school of guitar soli.
Follow Elson Complex on Twitter, and Have A Cigar there likewise; for more information on Art & Spencer, visit the Speedchill website.
