Reviews

Mint Field
Pasar De Las Luces

(Innovative Leisure)

8/10

Amor Amezcua and Estrella Sánchez met when they were teenagers in their hometown of Tijuana, Mexico. Following a move to California, word of mouth hype generated by their homemade EP ‘Primeras Salidas’, earned them a slot at Coachella before their debut album had even landed. 

Now, two years later, they’re completed their first LP. ‘Pasar De Las Luces’ – translated as “Passing Through the Lights” – couldn’t be a better title for this hour-long collection.

Thematically it’s an album about their hometown, the healing power of the outdoors and the ever-changing nature of the human experience, told via a sonic palette that’s, in turns, thoroughly dark and blindingly bright. 

The compositions are complex, and fuse together a range of influences. There’s the flavour of ’90s British shoegaze and ’70s Krautrock, Californian psychedelia and contemporary post-rock (it’s very Sigur Ros in parts). 

That’s some weighty ancestry to compile, but ‘Pasar De Las Luces’ is never crushed by its influences, and in many moments feels like a fresh take on some familiar sounds.