Released October 5, 2018
RATING: 4/7
With the debut of “Flowers” in 2016, Nicolás Pablo Rivera Muñoz began his entrance into the Indie Rock scene. The ethnically Chilean, Norway-based artist performs under the name Boy Pablo. His music is an Indie sound with new wave, surf rock, and jangle pop influences, leading to a new, but familiar style. On his newest release, Soy Pablo, he works on crafting his aesthetic. It doesn’t push the limits but helps solidify the identity Boy Pablo established with his debut EP, Roy Pablo back in 2017.
The EP kicks off to a great start with “Feeling Lonely.” For a song about such a sorrowful topic, the backing music is extraordinarily upbeat. The highlight of this track is the guitar, ripping through everything it touches, commanding the flow of the music. The upbeat nature of the track creates such a fun mood, present throughout the rest of the album overall. Boy Pablo’s music is without a doubt on the ‘fun-party’ side of Indie music, rather than ‘dark-sadboy-hour’ side.
“Sick Feeling” is accompanied by a starry-eyed, meme-like music video where Pablo plays the song on a Guitar Hero guitar while walking through a forest. The song follows the traditional Boy Pablo style of faded lyrics laid over a playfully dreamy guitar. It’s one of his catchiest songs to date and stands as one of the best parts of the album.
https://www.youtube.com/embed/hTFDlGv2IWg
On songs like “t-shirt” and “Limitado,” Pablo goes for a more laidback vibe. “Limitado” uses that same dreamy guitar as heard previously, but in a more downtempo, Lo-Fi manner. It’s staggered and jaded, with few words during the verses, and a simple “Ha-ah” to suffice for the rest. These songs are good, but as you make your way through the EP, things begin to stand out less and less. With nearly the same instrumentation and style on every song, Soy Pablo melts together into one piece, rather than having its own distinct sections.
With Soy Pablo (I Am Pablo), Boy Pablo makes a statement and defines who he is an artist, and where his style is going. Just by looks of the album cover, Boy Pablo is all about A E S T H E T I C. His music is the pale-wave version of music. It’s a really refreshing take on indie rock, mixing surf rock and dream pop influences to create something new. The EP has a distinct sound, but within each track, Pablo is able to tweak the sound to fit the correct mood. Soy Pablo is short and sweet. It never tries to take itself too seriously, and always keeping an enchanting mood. Overall it’s fun, dreamy, and romantic; it’s just some good music to have a good time with.
https://open.spotify.com/album/1lESM5Y1VAvrCLEgLmyfOw
