HAGEN is an experience best consumed sitting down.
Titanic are Héctor Tosta (aka I. la Católica) and Mabe Fratti. The Mexico City-based duo constantly expands what a guitarist and cellist can achieve. A bombardment of impulsive textures and instinctual percussion; an abyss of symphonic feels.
HAGEN is steeped in uncertainty and grandiosity, rejecting easy listening and enveloping the listener through a cacophony of sound. Opening track ‘Lágrima del sol’ opens with dissonant cello runs, accompanied by fraying guitar licks. All the while, Mabe Fratti serenades this chemical reaction: vocals tinged with melancholy and yearning. On ‘Gotera’ her voice slices through the constant percussive drumming and long cello sweeps. The song seemingly builds itself to an appropriately titanic (😜) crescendo of sounds.
Each instrument on HAGEN constantly ignites each other. Titanic’s explosive bond consistently pushes things to the edge; but never too much – intense, but still grounded, the listener focused on what the duo are building.
Words by Rafael Enriquez