Press Play: Mori
The Madrid-based lo-fi artist behind one of the year's best debuts shares the throwbacks closest to his heart.
Sixteen tracks of woozy, imperfect lo-fi pop draw a line from Arthur Russell to Alan Vega without breaking a sweat in Mori’s debut El Niño Bola. The Spanish musician’s new album has been winning over everyone with ears since its release earlier this year. Intimate and immediate, Mori relied entirely on gut feeling to make it, improvising and recording most vocals in a single take. His PRESS PLAY picks are a love letter to the classics that raised him, like Lole y Manuel, Ray Heredia, Rocío Jurado, Mocedades, and Los Chunguitos, which explains exactly why his music hits the way it does. Below, he talks his process, the Madrid music scene, and the James Blunt song that started it all.
Where do you dance?
Wherever the music is good and the lights are dim.
When do you make your best music?
At night.
Do you start with feeling or sound first?
Feeling always.
What’s the first song you learned every word to?
“You’re Beautiful” by James Blunt. I remember recreating the video of the song in my living room while my parents recorded.
“Until I watched Zootopia 2 about a month ago, I used to think a gazelle was a kind of big bird.”
Which record made you think, I want to do this too?
Cody ChesnuTT’s The Headphone Masterpiece.
What’s the weirdest or most unexpected influence on El Niño Bola?
We sampled what appears to be the first YouTube music video in history. “Premature Baldness” by Paul, which actually uses the song “Almost Cut My Hair” by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young.
Dream collab, dead or alive?
David Lynch and Angelo Badalamenti.
Who would you hand the aux cord to without thinking?
Either Marcelo Maderuelo, also known as Megansito el Guapo, or Juan Manuel Melerofrom Xiupill.
Favorite smell in the world?
Garlic sizzling in a pan with olive oil… Spain…
Tell us a secret.
Until I watched Zootopia 2 about a month ago, I used to think a gazelle was a kind of big bird.