Caribou
Andorra

LA RECENSIONE

Andorra is just the right place for those fleeing overly adrenaline-fueled lifestyles. A rarefied atmosphere, slowed-down rhythms are ideal characteristics for those seeking relief from the excesses and imbalances—not just thermal—that these times regularly reserve for us. The small Principality is situated between two states, on the ridge of the Pyrenees, as if suspended in a timeless era of eternal celebration, where daily troubles and concerns that afflict us can be viewed with healthy detachment. Not to mention the light taxes and, above all, the absence of an army.

These are probably some of the reasons that led Dan Snaith, alias Caribou, but already active in the recent past with the other beautiful pseudonym of Manitoba, to choose "Andorra" as the album's title. Perhaps Dan, in the small state that keeps one balanced for centuries at 2000 meters, must have glimpsed a sort of utopia coming to fruition; but even more important must be what he imagines it to be, what it represents for him in terms of independence and freedom. His fourth work, including the two of Manitoba, reflects from a musical standpoint these suggestions admirably, both the real and imaginary ones inspired by the idea of the small republic: dreamy, ethereal atmospheres, difficult to place in a precise genre, set on the perfect Pyrenean ridge between golden tradition and intelligent innovation, between certified psychedelia and refined pop, between kraut and lo-fi electronics.

The only substantial difference is that while you can visit the real Andorra in a day, here the spaces are so vast they take your breath away, and the distances you traverse, even in time, are genuinely significant: a journey, a trip that if it grasps you in the right way, you would want to end as late as possible. The tourist-musical paths to tour "Andorra" are only nine, but each surprises with its richness of colors, the well-being it provides, and the ability to make you daydream. And as soon as the diligent guide Dan informs you that the tour is over, you immediately book for the next round, convinced that something important has escaped you, that there might be more to imprint on your memory. The first itinerary, the most wonderfully sunny, includes stops like "Melody Day" and "Sandy", a blend of '60s Californian psyc delights, bell chimes, bucolic flutes, and human-sized electronics. The alternative one, however, which has mandatory stops at "Sundialing", "Irene", "Niobe", the latter perhaps the best of the lot, proves introspective, shadowy, with percussion in the foreground and even more marked lysergic influences.

Anyway, you'll see: the real problem won’t be how to reach the arduous "Andorra," but how to leave. Indeed, there will be many who will no longer want to know about descending to the valley.