Dynamic London-based, internationally-assembled instrumental quartet Los Bitchos have returned with their highly anticipated second album, Talkie Talkie, released on Friday 30 August via City Slang. Following the success of their electrifying debut album Let the Festivities Begin!, which set the stage for their vibrant and eclectic sound, Talkie Talkie elevates this to new levels.
Los Bitchos’ line-up is as eclectic as their sound. The group consists of lead guitarist Serra Petale, who brings both Australian and Turkish heritage into the mix; Uruguayan synth and keytar player Agustina Ruiz; Swedish bassist Josefine Jonsson; and British drummer Nic Crawshaw. Each member contributes their unique cultural influences, creating a sound that is truly international.
The recording process for Talkie Talkie was a whirlwind affair, taking place over just one intense month at London’s RAK Studios and Lightship 95. Teaming up with producer Oli Barton-Wood, known for his work with Wet Leg and Nilüfer Yanya, and engineer Giles Barrett, whose credits include Shabaka Hutchings and Ezra Collective, the band produced an album that sounds polished yet playful, never losing sight of their core ethos of fun and exploration.
While their debut record captured the build-up to a night out on the town, Talkie Talkie represents the experience of being on the dancefloor itself. It embodies the blissful chaos of a night where anything can happen, serving as the perfect sequel to the anticipation built by their previous record. It is named after a fictional club – a late-night utopia where freedom and possibility can reign supreme. It is a place where the line between reality and fantasy often blurs, as funk, disco, Latin, and Turkish rhythms are able to collide in a euphoric, boundary-pushing fusion.
Los Bitchos take listeners on a wild ride through a soundscape that brims with charisma, sonic experimentation, and a puckish spirit, beginning with album opener ‘Hi!’. As one of the only tracks featuring vocals on the entire record, the band introduce themselves to the listener with playful group chants, performed over an intoxicating bassline and jangly riffs.
Drawing from the band’s favourite aesthetic era, the playful and campy side of the eighties, Talkie Talkie explores a world of hi-fi pop songwriting, glistening with moxie and brimming with sonic innovation, bringing an era long-gone firmly back into the present. ‘Talkie Talkie, Charlie Charlie’ is a pure eighties synth-pop moment, while ‘Open the Bunny, Wasting My Time’ is driven by these shimmering synths throughout its runtime.
Elsewhere, these eighties influences are combined with nods to each band member’s heritage. The Turkish psych bop ‘La Bomba’, for example, is infused with eighties undertones throughout, while ‘1k’ experiments with mystical guitar tones and the guacharaca rhythm of cumbia, incorporating Ruiz’s Latin American roots into the tracklist of the album.
Despite vocals being scarce throughout the record, Los Bitchos have managed to create an entire universe within these 12 songs. They were able to establish the concept that they set out to create, using instrumentals alone for the majority of the record. This level of world-building is something that not many primarily-instrumental bands could achieve, but Los Bitchos are able to rely on their strong sense of identity and unique cultural influences to craft something which transports the listener out of reality, directly to their intended location – the dancefloor.
Talkie Talkie is a testament to Los Bitchos’ commitment to providing feelings of excitement, creativity, and community through their music. As Petale aptly puts it, the fictional nightclub they have created is a place to “get euphoric,” and here they have opened up a whole new world where their listeners can do just that.
