ABOUT THIS ITEM

1 year ago, Hecuba began work on "Paradise". When they were finished, they had 10 powerful, straightforward songs brimming with synthesizers, strings, horns and melodies that could have been made by no one else. Hecuba's "Paradise" is a vibrant record with broad strokes and intense details. It is visual music that speaks through images. In the song "Miles Away", a group of flutes becomes an ambulance siren. On "Tom & Jerry", a synth smack is a cartoon cat's fist. A dissonant choir embodies a woman's unconscious thoughts in "Extra Connection", and a detached, automated voice morphs into a bare, screaming saxophone in "The Magic". As comfortable on the dance floor as in the concert hall, "Paradise" moves from sparse, introspective moments to harsh, violent crashes and syncopated beats; from Ranchero trumpet blasts to full on orchestral pop, and 50s crooner electro-bop. Even with such a stylistic range and new ideas at every turn, the record remains pure and incisive.