Title - ‘Agent Cooper' (Sony Music)
Artist - Russian Red
For those not in the know, Russian Red is actually a Spanish lady named Lourdes Hernandez. Having not broken America at this musical juncture, she recently appeared at SXSW in Austin, TX and went down a storm, believe you me. Known throughout her native country the first single off of Agent Cooper is ‘Casper,’ a track that literally would bounce a vinyl version of this album off its turntable!
Also in the midst of putting together a short US tour - with dates including CA, NY and IL - this new album brings to the fore her incredibly strong, highly-motivated vocal approach to music. She may well have first made waves into the music scene back in 2008 with her debut indie darling I Love Your Glasses, but it’s always been America the nut she wanted to crack; so to speak.
Having recorded this new album in Los Angeles at Sunset Studios - her second, Fuerteventura was released back in 2011 - Lourdes aka Russian Red it’s plain to hear on tracks such as the opener ‘Michael P’ and even both ‘Stevie J’ and ‘Alex T’ the influences abounding from producer Joe Chiccarelli ie: The White Stripes, The Strokes, The Shins and even to a diluted aspect, U2.
Add to that the Mark Needhan (The Killers, Bloc Party) on audio mixing and Emily Lazar as (Vampire Weekend, Bjork) the mastering engineer and you have a trio of behind-the-scenes techs that have backed Lourdes to the musical hilt here. In closing, this album is one to be reckoned with, to be admired, to be listened to over and over again. As for quite why each track is named after a man, well, YOU ask her!
Reviewed by: Russell A. Trunk
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