(Folk / Latin / Downtempo) Maria Usbeck - Amparo - 2016, MP3, 320 kbps

Maria Usbeck's solo debut, Amparo, is a collection of songs written and recorded across the span of three years in Ecuador, Buenos Aires, Santiago, Barcelona, Lisbon, Easter Island, Costa Rica, the south of Florida, L.A. and her home in Brooklyn. Though the songs were composed electronically, Amparo called for an acoustic treatment, so Usbeck spent a winter in the studio recording the arrangements live. Fleshed out in full sonic color on the marimba, xylophone, quena flute, piano, and harp, the album stretched out into something hi-fi and expressive, meditative but not meandering.