PREMIERE | Pictorial Candi, "Chino"

Avant-absurdist pop star Pictorial Candi taking a disco nap; press photo courtesy of the artist.

Pictorial Candi, aka Candi Saenz Valiente, creates contemporary pop art universes that are inspired by personal narratives the artist holds close to home and illustrated with heart. With the debut of "Chino", Valiente pays homage to her father in Buenos Aires where his influence is emulated through a sentimental sound that spins the listener into a nostalgic world of tennis matches, rustic farm landscapes and endearing moments shared over spirits, love and generous amounts of laughter and joy. Found off the forthcoming album Secret Salts (Mansions & Millions/Nicey Music) arriving at the end of summer; Candi's latest offering of unconventional synth pop sound collages sends us to a world of electric daydreams that dazzle the senses with a feeling of warmth like long-distance phone calls from loved ones on different continents that stretch beyond hands that reach over vast bodies of oceans and earth.

“Chino” is post-modern Father’s Day hymn that brings elements of winter melancholia into the wistful fancies of the summer solstice. Pictorial Candi collects assortments of memories and keepsakes and assembles them into a free play of emotionally charged fabrics, noisemakers, atmospheric keys and samples of classic televised court matches that enter and exit the mix at will. The track rolls back the years and surveys the impact of family on the heart where Candi’s tribute to a paternal figure is expressed like a bouquet of emotive thought trails that brings the cherished presences of yesterday closer to the reflective moods of the present. As “Chino” progresses, the shifts of seasons past can be experienced like the well-thumbed pages of a family album where the narratives of growing up and coming of age can be observed like a montage of time capsules that commemorate the myriad milestones and landmarks that have molded and shaped us into the people we are today (and hints at the changes that will arrive with the advent of each and every new tomorrow).

Candi provided some candid thoughts on the inception for the new single “Chino”:

The song is about my father, his nickname is Chino. He lives in Buenos Aires, I live in Berlin. I have been flying back home once a year for many years now and I often wonder if I'll see him again the next time around. He's an old guy, a farmer. He would love me to roll up my sleeves and work with him, but that is impossible, still, he always hints at it. Growing up I played tennis at a club, I wasn't good or anything, but when I think of him tennis is always there, like a background to his face, as well as gin and tonics, ha ha. I already wrote a song about him called “Tonic”, it's on my previous album.

I think of this song as a lament. A winter song too, I can see snow every time I hear it.

Here are the lyrics:

“Chino”

Last night you called me.

You said you loved me.

Never been said before.

I held my breath for you.

I'll be home when winter comes,

will u be around?

Will you be around?

Will you be around?

I'll be home in Winter;

I will come in Winter,

will you be home?

I'll hold my breath for you!

(I) confess to writing your obituary despite u being alive.

Got the sun from you always rising in me,

never let's me down.

And always you say I can return and be a farmer slave

- I’ll be a mystery to you -,

I’d love to please you, but it’s too much to say goodbye to,

too much to say goodbye to.

Will you be around?

Will you be around?

Will you be around?

I'll be home in Winter.

I will come in Winter,

will you be home?

I'll hold my breath for you.

The fourth Pictorial Candi album Secret Salts will be available at the end of August via Mansions & Millions / Nicey Music.