Mabe Fratti’s work has always possessed a sense of drama, one finely tuned to clearly express a range of emotional states. On Sentir Que No Sabes we hear this quality primarily through a set of texts that often convey an idea of a person struggling to compute various relationships or situations, and the actions which result. Look at the English translations of the song titles to begin with: ‘Whether You Want It or Not’, ‘Failed Attempt’, ‘We Discovered A Sigh’ all openly hint at doubts or frustrations.
This is a record full to the brim with a modern pop sensibility, invoked by the sort of magpie spirit that currently scrolls and snaffles anything it can find, repositioning sounds for the here and now. The keys on the melancholy ‘Pantalla-azul’ (Blue Screen Error), and the melody they accompany, transport us back to the glossy mid-1980s, or maybe they have more in common with an act like Black Country, New Road. ‘Oidos’ (Ears) is a beautiful slice of contemporary, hybrid pop music, in which Fratti’s vocal lines delicately spin themselves around the lean structures erected by the brass and drums, and the descending “chink” of a set of piano chords. The cello line adds a melancholy coda. Then we have a gloriously strong ending with the swell of ‘Angel Nuevo’, another filmic track full of gentle, instrument-rich swells and eddies which manages to be almost endless in its range and yet intensely personal; Fratti’s voice is close, almost whispering in your ear. A much needed lullaby for our fractious times.