Elastic Bond

Here is the music that PRI's The World's DJ contributors say you should not have missed in 2013. We'll be highlighting a growing list as we count down to the end of the year with different DJs.

April Peavey is studio director and producer for The World.

Anoushka Shankar - Traces of You
Various - Peru Maravilloso - Vintage Latin, Tropical & Cumbia
Lala Njava - Malagasy Blues Song
The Beatles - On Air: Live at the BBC Volume 2
Daft Punk - Random Access Memories
Elastic Bond - Real
Elvis Costello and the Roots -Wise Up Ghost and Other Songs
Herbert Grönemeyer - I Walk
The James Hunter Six - Minute by Minute
William Onyeabor - Who Is William Onyeabor? - PRI's The World

When Venezuelan producer Andres Ponce met Honduran singer Sofy Encanto in Miami, musical sparks flew. What began as a recording project became a full-fledged band that draws from a range of influences, including tropical, funk, electronic and hip-hop.

Real, the group's first album, has it all, with songs in both English and Spanish. After playing around Miami for a couple of years, Elastic Bond signed with the influential Nacional label, which put out the band's debut earlier this summer. - NPR

There’s something special about a band that can seamlessly transition between songs in English and Spanish, all the while offering a distinct sound in what seems like every track.

A band based in Miami, FL., has it down to a science.

Meet Elastic Bond, the latest group to join Nacional Records, the Latin Alternative label that helped catapult acts like Manu Chao and Los Fabulosos Cadillacs to wider success.

Elastic Bond bills itself as having “an urban edge with a tropical twist to the alternative music scene.” During a set at their recent record release party at New York City’s Nublu, we bought into their “retro-futuristic” vibe. We heard some samba sounds, retro dance pop (think DeeLite. Remember them?), folkloric rhythms, funk, electronica, and sultry ballads. Oh, those ballads. (More on those later.)

The band is comprised of producer and Venezuelan native, Andres Ponce, Honduran-born vocalist, Sofy Encanto, trumpet player, David Burgos, also from Venezuela, and guitarist Buffalo Brown, an American of Dominican descent.

Ponce and Encanto met in 2004, started collaborating under the band name Elastic Bond, later adding Burgos, Brown, and the occasional guest musician and/or vocalist. They tell us the name of the band was loosely inspired by a molecular chemistry term (Swoon! We love smart artists!) and “suggests the idea of eclectic sounds and musical genres held together by a common vibe.”

The band released their third album, Real, on June 18, where it debuted at #1 in the Alternativo & Rock Latino Albums chart on iTunes. The 12-track record features well-crafted pop songs, catchy melodies, and urban tropical funk (in both English and Spanish), with a nod to classic soul and traditional cumbia, while staying true to the tropical and modern dance sounds of Miami.

The single, “Find a Way,” is currently getting tons of blog and radio love. (Check out the video below.)

I caught up with Ponce and Encanto right before their second set at the aforementioned record release party in downtown New York City (the band was also in town for the Latin Alternative Music Conference (LAMC) as well as a few dates in upstate New York.) Here’s what they had to say:

Sounds & Colours: You guys were very recently signed to Nacional. For a band that has been DIY since 2004, please tell us what that feels like:

Sofy Encanto: We’re so excited. We’re inspired to work even harder. And now we have an opportunity to share our music with a wider audience. [Nacional is] certainly helping us a lot.

S&C: Many people equate Miami with a resort/party town and the music of Pitbull or Gloria Estefan. Elastic Bond has a wonderfully unique sound. Was it challenging to build a following there?

Encanto: We’ve been taking baby steps and it just kept on building. We’ve been a band for seven years now. It certainly didn’t happen overnight.

Andres Ponce: Miami is so diverse—so international, rich, and cultured. There are so many people from all over the world that just go through there. We were blessed to have the opportunity to provide a lot of entertainment for tourists. There are great opportunities [in Miami] for musicians. We’ve been blessed.

S&C: Tell us about the new record. What can listeners expect? Each song feels like it can stand alone and the ballads are sweet and romantic, but not over the top. We loved them!

Encanto: Our songs are mainly about love. Some are about people and places that have inspired us. Each song has a different feel and story. Listeners can expect some funk and some African rhythms with electronic sounds. There’s some down-tempo stuff, too—the type of music you can listen to in the afternoon. Again, lots of love.

Ponce: It’s a very soulful record—a reflection of who we are as humans, our influences, our background. We tried to push the envelope a bit, and be innovative in what we do—our retro sound—but we also try to bring some modern elements into the mix.

S&C: Where can we find out more about the band and tour dates?

Ponce: Right now we [just finished] a NYC tour, but the future is wide open for us!!! We would love to go to Europe and Latin America, of course. Our album is coming out in Japan, so that’s very exciting.

Stream “La Curandera,” a cumbia track from the album, which the band wanted to share exclusively with Sounds & Colours readers. And download their album, Real, online. - Sounds and Colors

The video for “Find a Way,” the breakout single by Miami act Elastic Bond, comes off as chilled-out and down-to-earth as the band itself. Released last July, the short film follows the Nacional Records act through a day at the Miami edition of the Grassroots Festival this past February.

For a cool 3:45, we see the band (helmed by vocalist Sofy Encanto and producer/programmer Andres Ponce) set up a tent like the regular punters, eat fest food, and then play a set for hula hoopers.

But while the video is cucumber cool, the cultural ascent of the actual song is quite the opposite. “Find a Way” is enjoying a hot streak. Its blend of soul, hip-hop beats, jazzy guitar licks (from axe man Buffalo Brown), and tropical lounge flair (from trumpet player David Burgos) makes the song a true urban sophisticate’s jam. So it’s no surprise that you can hear “Find a Way” piping through the speakers at Whole Foods stores nationwide or coming across the airwaves on NPR.

All of this, perhaps, points to a gradual de-ghettoizing of so-called “Latin alternative” music. Elastic Bond is an act with some Latino members, an occasional Latin music influence, and a deal with a label that’s usually associated with the “Latin alternative” movement. But there’s nothing obviously Latin about “Find a Way” – and its widespread acceptance signals a good thing for Latino musicians, says Nacional Records head Tomas Cookman.

“When you hear a song like ‘Find a Way,’ the fact that they’re Latino and from Miami, it’s totally inconsequential,” says Cookman. “It’s just a great band, which is why we’re getting the types of spins we’re getting, in Milwaukee, Syracuse, and all this other type of support which we typically don’t get for an act sold as a ‘Latino’ band.”

Indeed, Elastic Bond’s sonic mix is far more global than anything bounded by ethnic clichés. “’Tropical soul’ is sort of a term that resonates with us, because a lot of the music has that soul and jazz influence and an American urban influence,” says frontwoman Encanto. “If you hear the music there’s also a little bit of reggae, a little cha-cha combined with other electronic or soul rhythms.”

“’Latin alternative’ would be a good name to have for it on iTunes, so people could find it, but I would also say it fits into the plain ‘alternative’ category as well,” Encanto continues. “Sometimes you have to give it a name in order for it to be marketable in the digital world, for people to find you. But it’s elastic, it can go many ways.” - Fusion