Hinds – VIVA HINDS (2024)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 31:19 minutes | 377 MB | Genre: Indie Rock, Female Vocal
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Lucky Number
Spanish indie rockers Hinds are back with their utterly triumphant fourth album, Viva Hinds. Written by the band’s co-founders, co-vocalists, co-guitarists and co-songwriters Carlotta Cosials and Ana Perrote, it features their first-ever fully Spanish language songs, as well as first collaborations with the likes of Beck and Fontaines D.C.’s Grian Chatten.”
After a couple of uneven albums that showed a lot of potential, the Spanish band Hinds delivered on that promise big time with The Prettiest Curse, an album that had the misfortune of being released at the height of pandemic lockdowns. Founded by Carlotta Cosials and Ana Perrote in 2011, the band had finally locked in with a tight, creative lineup; so when, in 2022, Cosials and Perrote announced the departure of their two other bandmates, they said it was “very hurtful.” But Hinds, it turns out, wasn’t back at square one. Their fourth album is a thrill—revitalized and packed with so much personality. Produced by Pete Robertson (Beabadoobee), Viva Hinds could’ve instead been called How Hinds Got Their Groove Back. Perhaps no song shows their new direction better than “Stranger,” a dreamy New Wave bop that finds Perrote and Cosials trading verses and harmonizing with Grian Chatten of Fontaines D.C. The two sound more subtle and controlled than usual, and it’s an intriguing dynamics shift. There are, in fact, several New Wave moments here, like catchy “Superstar”—which starts off pretty low-key and quiet and builds to explosive joy—and “The Bed, The Room, The Rain and You,” which is lush and big and fills every inch of space with guitars that recall The Edge circa 1980. But there are songs that tap into the kinetic vibe Hinds does so well, too. They team up with Beck for “Boom Boom Back,” simultaneously sunny and sleazy and loaded with background chatter and laughter as the three sing a flirty come-on: “If you wanna fall in love in a bar tonight/ Do you wanna fall in love with a broken heart?/ Do you wanna ride? Ride in my Mirage?/ Do you wanna be the one that feels the ‘Boom-Boom’ back?” The brash “Hi, How Are You” relies on a heavy power-pop riff, start-stop guitar and clicky drums, as Perrote and Cosials charmingly yelp the chorus. The two egg each other on, screaming and having fun, for bouncy “Coffee,” revealing a few of their favorite things. (Perrote: “flowers from boys that I’m not sleeping with.” Cosials: “crying to hard rock on my holidays.” Both: “black coffee and cigarettes.”) “On My Own” dips into blissed-out ’90s twee pop, “En Forma” is Spanish-language punk pop, and foxy “Bon Voyage” is full of attitude and humor, with Cosials using her trademark baby-doll voice to great, almost R&B effect. – Shelly Ridenour
Tracklist:
1-1. Hinds – Hi, How Are You (02:37)
1-2. Hinds – The Bed, The Room, The Rain and You (02:28)
1-3. Hinds – Boom Boom Back (03:24)
1-4. Hinds – Stranger (03:26)
1-5. Hinds – Superstar (04:02)
1-6. Hinds – Mala Vista (03:27)
1-7. Hinds – On My Own (02:31)
1-8. Hinds – Coffee (02:29)
1-9. Hinds – En Forma (03:48)
1-10. Hinds – Bon Voyage (03:02)
