I cried, said Helado Negro about the process of working on his latest full-length release, This Is How You Smile. It was hard and I never want to make a record like that again. Not because it was hard, but because I felt the way that I needed to feel [to make] that record.
An amalgamation of unhurried sounds and buried sentiments, the new album by Ecuadorian-American artist Roberto (Not Ricardo) Lange was brought to life after weeks of near isolation in two Brooklyn studios. Accentuated by lush, lo-fi textures, his art is deeply introspective, yet relatable; his music is selfishly and unapologetically for him, but also very much for us. Its title came to Lange during a 2018 reading of Jamaica Kincaids Girl at the Museum of Modern Art, in which Kincaid painstakingly outlines each delicate step a young black woman must take to exist respectably in society. Lange told Rolling Stone that he loved how a piece like that can be so interwoven with its own feeling. I felt that feeling and when I reached into some of the ideas behind it, I knew it was something I identified with and I think the music makes sense with it.
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In the follow-up to his 2016 LP, Private Energy, his sixth album at least the sixth one hes shared for public consumption Lange presents us with what he deems his best work yet. Through a therapeutic 12-track journey, he turns the dial further inward and invites listeners to do the same. The surrealistic Todo Lo Que Me Falta urges a loved one to be present (Stay theres light, he sings in Spanish); while the steel-drum assisted Imagining What to Do emanates a winter-long yearning for something that cant be yet, leaving a palpable tension in its wake. Meanwhile, the ruminative final song My Name Is for My Friends samples field recordings from an Abolish ICE march, as well as modulated vocals by Victoria Ruiz of punk group Downtown Boys splintering the LP and leaving room for listeners to digest it. After setting fire to his typical processes and emotional comfort, Lange allows a newfound self to paint a tapestry with the ashes, frames it with familial memories and balmy melodies, and humbly lays out the remnants before us. Whats left of it all simply glows.
On the brink of 40, and with over a decade in the industry, Lange is an ever-evolving artist whose work eludes definition. We meet at one his favorite spots near Prospect Park to discuss the intricate nuances of his sound and lyrics, his grave decision to protect his own private energy as a creative and more. This is How You Smile is about how you smile to someone you like completely and hopefully that someone is you.
When you create, do you have a specific audience in mind? Did you feel any pressure from yourself, or your label to make more banner Latinx canticles?
No, never. Ive had people ask me, Whats it like being a Latino musician post-Trump? Or, Whats it like being brown in a post-Trump world? I mean, we cant understand what its like to not be that. Thats what we do, who we are, every day. I dont share things I dont feel sincere about. I seldom put something out in the world where Im like, Damn that was not the move at all. Thats probably why Im broke. (laughs)
Strategically, a lot of people would say OK, you made this Young, Latin and Proud song, you should work with that! Its a very common industry thing, but its not in my DNA. And whoever I work with, its people that I love. They dont have to identify the way that I identify. That gets lost right now I think. The people Ive always wanted to be around are the people that are 100% down.
So you clearly dont want to limit yourself. What do you want to be known for as an artist? How would describe what you do?
Im still searching for a really good way to describe it. I think it changes every day, every album or every new project and I feel like in a way youre only as good as the last thing you made, or did, or shared I guess. As of right now, I think this is my favorite record Ive ever made. Im ok with being 39 minutes of someones life [and them saying], Thats cool, I listened to that, I liked what he did, this is who he is.
Sonically, it always feels like youre serving the audience or have them in mind with Private Energy we grooved, and with This Is How You Smile we relax and reflect whereas lyrically, they always feel more personal. Almost like a This is for me to know and you to figure out kind of thing. Is that accurate?
Definitely, yes. And I dont really care if people find out. Im not trying to hide anything, but Im also not trying to advertise everything. Everybody wants to share so much, and [theres] an extreme pressure on people who do creative work to be visibly doing something. All the people who do all the nuanced, crazy grind shit if you were to snap a photo of it, it wouldnt be that interesting. But that stuff ends up being some of the most important things youre involved with, and the most gratifying.
I think part of the message of the record is: How do you make that stuff glow a lot more, and show that its super dope? And that theres no need to document it all, or project it all into the world? Its just important to do your job as a good person, and human. That shit gets boring and frustrating when you feel this constant, oppressive feeling. Theres so much we can focus on that doesnt have to be so public.
This album feels more introspective than anything. Why did you choose to go that route? It doesnt feel like something to belt out in a crowd, but is this for us?
Its for me, mostly. And I think people identify with me because I am who I am, and I think thats where it becomes a for us moment. Its always a selfish moment when youre making art because youre really trying to find expressivity through the language you created. This is the only language I know how to speak well in a way, in that I know everything I want to say is there. Its gotta be selfish in the moment that you make it, and selfless when you share it. It goes out into the world and people are gonna poke holes in it, turn it into whatever they want it to be, and I think thats great too. I understand a lot about myself through other peoples eyes and other peoples thoughts.
In a way, this music is threatening because music thats soft or gentle is commodified in a way thats supposed to be passive, but its really a slight. People [say] Pais Nublado is like this bossanova thing, and yeah but its a slight to folks who try to hold people back. Its a slight to folks who think they can corner people. Its also a nod and a wink to me because Ive been doing this for a long time and I see who comes and goes, and I know that people who take their time to listen and read will get it the most. It isnt my job to make it this heavy-handed thing. Young, Latin and Proud wasnt that way either, it was just the title. If you listen to the song its just this psychedelic trip out moment and theres [an] ambiguity in that I enjoy.
Whats one word to describe the sentiment you want to leave people with after they listen to This Is How You Smile?
Joy. Joys a good word. Finding joy in nuance. I know its not the most obvious thing. Its easy to relate qualities of sounds to qualities of words so theres a relationship there. But, I think its an after-effect. Feeling joyful after youve gone through moments of catharsis or relief or being exhausted. I dont know if you go to the gym, but you work out and your favorite part is the end. Theres joy at the end.
Helado Negro kicks off his U.S. tour this week. This Is How You Smile is out now.