Music
TUCSON
DESERT DUO
GLACIER.WAV .
By Laura Latzko Glacier.Wav combines Jaime Soto’s pop sensibility with Frank Anzaldua’s rock foundation to create something unique. The Tucson duo has kept busy recently, releasing their first album in February. The self-titled Glacier.Wav album is made up of ten tracks that speak on issues such as global warming, life during a pandemic, and the challenges of trying to make it in Tucson as electronic musicians. “Glacier” explores the topic of climate change; “Never Gonna Make It” is about Soto’s experiences as a gay artist; “We Live, part I” by Anzaldua, who is an LGBTQ ally, features spoken word from his cousin Nicolas Anzaldua; and “Vine” is about the push-pull nature of romantic relationships.
Frank Anzaldua and Jaime Soto bring a blend of darkwave, shoegaze, synthwave and ’80s ballad sounds
“I feel like it’s not as common anymore to write albums like this. It used to be common. If you just think about Purple Rain. Those songs are really different,” Anzaldua says. “It goes from punk to ballad. In that nostalgic vein, not just in particular per song but also for the album as a whole, I wanted to capture that feeling of what albums were like in that era.” ON MAKING AN ALBUM DURING A PANDEMIC “I think our process is: Frank makes something beautiful, and he sends it to me, and then I just try to remain really really open to whatever lyrics pop into my head. I think Frank does such a good job of coming up with melodies and musical parts that if I use the track as a guide, I can come up with a vocal melody that follows it,” Soto says. “On my end, my process is to just be open, to not think too hard and to let whatever words come to me as they come to me. For this project especially, I tried not to edit myself too much and say what I had to say.” Anzaldua says creating an album with such different songs was a satisfying process. “I particularly like this project because I don’t like writing the same song over and over again. It keeps things interesting for me and hopefully translates to the audience.” Part of their ramp up for their album was a release of their video for “I Want to Feel the Sun.” The video was shot in Tucson at
14
August 2021
phoenix.outvoices.us
