Hear the Blistering Beauty of Sound Sculptor Jefre Cantu-Ledesma on “Love’s Refrain”

Love is one of Jefre Cantu-Ledesma’s favorite subjects, at least when it comes to song and album titles. One of his records is called Love Is a Stream, and perhaps the most moving track on his great 2015 full-length, A Year With 13 Moons, is titled “Love After Love.” Though neither of those records contain discernible words, he’s able to explore a lot of the nuances and repercussions of love with his careful, sensitive sound-sculpting, accessing universal emotions through resonant overtones and evocative textures.

“Love’s Refrain,” the first track on his new tape In Summer, is one of his most openly emotional pieces to date. Starting with a slow, melancholy beat and shimmering guitar waves, Cantu-Ledesma finds a moody sweet spot between the VHS decay of hypnagogic pop and the swirling feedback of shoegaze. As the track progresses, everything gets denser and heavier, like memories piling up into a blur, to the point where what’s left is almost sheer noise. But echoes of Cantu-Ledesma’s sentimental tones remain, making “Love’s Refrain” some of the most emotive dissonance you’re likely to hear.

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